Shadows are Stirring
by The Shadows
Summary: A story continuing the lives of the Ranma crew after the failed wedding and the Saffron incident. Follow Ranma and Akane as they strive to be able to live a life together, free from the shadows of their past.
1. The Sparing Match

Disclaimer: There will only be two of these - one at the beginning of the fic, and one at the end. However, that doesn't change the fact that Ranma does not belong to me - that right sits with Rumiko Takahashi. I just own this particular storyline, as well as a couple of unique moves Ranma pulls off.

I will be reposting this fanfiction here, but it will be a trimmed version, cutting out a couple of things that ended up getting it erased the first time. The full version can be seen by following the link in my bio. I plan on posting a chapter a day until the whole thing's up again.

Please enjoy, and let me know what you think!

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Chapter One: The Sparring Match

Nermia, Japan, was never really known for much a few years back. In fact, few people could have told you anything about it at all only two years ago. Of course, that has since changed, as Nermia seems to have become a beacon for Martial Arts. If one wanted to prove themselves to be above average in the field, then Nermia was the place to be, without question.

Mind you, this took time to come about. It all started about two years ago, when a panda walked into town, carrying a buxom red-head over his shoulder, and a travel pack in his other hand. It was the arrival of Ranma Saotome and his father that changed everything, and Nermia would never be the same.

And there are few who would have it any other way.

Sometimes, thing did get a little out of hand, though. There was the time that the park was forcibly closed for several weeks shortly after they had arrived that first drew peoples attention. It would have been considered strange beforehand for a young man to tear up a telephone pole to use as a weapon… but now that seems a little tame. And then there were the deadly plants that had been used as a trap in the local high school - Furikan High.

After that incident, things started to calm down a little. This was just as well, as many of the regular, non-super-human residents were beginning to fear for their lives. With explosions of energy, which could be caused merely by depressing the wrong person, or strange people coming in from China with some sort of vendetta, serious harm was a real concern. But after the plants… things calmed down for the most part. There was still the occasional mishap, but overall, Ranma seemed to attract a little less attention.

Few actually knew that Ranma was not always in Nermia at that time. In fact, more than he would have liked to admit, he was often found in China, fighting with everything he had to rescue his first fiancée from some evil or another. The fact that he was rescuing his first fiancée does need to be said, though - he had four that stuck around for any length of time, and surely many more hidden away somewhere.

But the fact remains that he was often trying to rescue Akane Tendo from harm when he vanished for weeks at a time. In between these times, he seemed almost normal, and everything seemed rather calm in Nermia. Well… considering the whole Jusenkyo turn-into-something-when-splashed-with-cold-water curse that seemed to have affected many people, as normal as possible.

There was actually a period of almost an entire year where he had stayed in Nermia, there had been no major damages done, and everything had stayed mostly peaceful. And then, suddenly, that peace had ended in the middle of the night when odd bird-people showed up to attack. Ranma left with most of his friends then for a period of almost a month. Akane had followed shortly afterwards.

When they returned, no one spoke of what had happened in China. Days after their return, a wedding was held for Ranma and Akane… only to be crashed almost instantly by Ranma's other fiancées and rivals. This brings us up to date - the wedding has been crashed, but otherwise, things are almost calm again.

But with Ranma Saotome, nothing can really stay calm forever.

* * *

"Akane?" Kasumi's voice called from the kitchen. Akane looked up from the game board that her father and the giant panda were pawning over. "Could you come here for a moment, please?"

"Sure sis," Akane replied, walking away from the two arguing fathers. Ducking into the kitchen, she saw that her sister had a large container prepared with food, and she looked at it, waiting for an explanation.

"Have you and Ranma had another fight recently?" she asked calmly.

Akane was surprised by the question, and thought about it for a moment. Ever since returning from the battle with Saffron, Ranma had been amazingly subdued, and hardly spoke at all anymore. In fact, she had seen even less of him than usual, too. That certainly left little room for fighting. He was around even less after the failed wedding, and only seemed to meet her eyes when he entered a room, and no one else's. "Not that I know of. Why?"

"Well, it is probably nothing, but he missed breakfast and lunch today..."

Akane snorted. "For him to miss a meal he'd have to be half dead," she muttered, shaking her head as she ran a hand through her blue-black short hair. It would need trimming again before too long.

"I'm worried about him, and you should be, too!" Kasumi said, a bit of an edge to her constantly soft voice. The edge caught Akane off guard - she had only seen her oldest sister upset once before, and it wasn't something she really wanted to see ever again. "He is your fiancé after all, right?"

"So?"

"And he did risk his life for you, right?"

_Again._ "So?" Akane shook her head. "He's done that a few times for me, remember Kasumi?"

Her older sister nodded. "He seems worried about something. Could you please bring this food to him?" She put the red lid on the large clear container, and handed it to Akane. "And if he needs more, please tell him to let me know."

"Kasumi, this should be more than enough to feed the family for a week!" Akane exclaimed, hefting the food from the table and walking out of the kitchen. _So it should be enough for Ranma for about an hour or so..._

"Mr. Saotome, dad, have you seen Ranma?" she asked, returning to the living room. Neither looked up from the game in front of them, though Genma-panda did hold up a sign with the word NO' in big letters written on it.

Akane sighed. "I'll check the Dojo," she said to herself, and walked across the freshly cut grass to push open the double doors to the large training hall. It was completely deserted. She looked around, and then set the food down just inside. _I'll check around._

She made quick work of searching the entire house for Ranma, and knocked loudly enough on his door to wake even him up. She then went back outside and looked into the koi pond. In the reflection of the waters she saw the container of food on the roof of the house.

Akane pulled the ladder out from next to the house and climbed up quickly. She found Ranma with his back to her, stuffing his face with any bits of food he could get his hands on. He froze as soon as he heard her step onto the metal roofing. Standing quickly, he started to run towards the edge of the house and leapt off.

"Ranma!" Akane called after him, surprised by his running away. She chased after him, and leapt from the building as he had done to try and catch up. Just as she leapt she remembered that she had never been any good with heights, and should not have jumped from the building at all. Before she could start to panic, however, she felt strong arms catch her in midair and rise up again. Too startled to say anything, all Akane could see was a red Chinese shirt. She felt very calm instantly, and knew that she was in good hands.

When she was on the roof again, Ranma set her down softly. "Stupid tomboy, trying ta get yerself killed?" he said softly, turning away from her.

"Ranma, what's wrong with you?" Akane retorted. She was mad at the insult, but worried at the same time. He had never run away from her before like he was doing now. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it," he replied, leaping down again.

"Wait!" Akane called. Leaning over the edge of the roof, she saw that he had stopped, and was looking up to her, waiting for her to continue. "I... uh..."

"Thanks fer the food, Akane," he said after a moment, and then he had disappeared as he started to run.

Knowing that it was futile to try and catch him, she sighed and climbed down from the roof. _Why is Ranma running away from me? What did I do to him this time? Or, better still, what did he do that makes him run from me?_ It didn't make any sense.

Confused even later, Akane decided to turn in early after supper, skipping her evening workout session. She doubted that Ranma would be there anyway, so he couldn't say anything to her about slacking off.

Sighing, she pulled her blankets up over her and closed her eyes tightly. _Stupid Ranma. What's going on?"_

She sat up instantly when she heard a sound coming from her window. A shadow darted away as soon as she looked, but that wasn't going to stop her. "Pervert!" she cried, leaping out of bed and out of the window onto the verandah. "Get back here!"

"I'm... sorry," came a sad, withdrawn voice from the roof. Standing on the railing, Akane pulled herself up onto the roof to find Ranma sitting there, his arms wrapped around his legs. "I wasn't trying to spy on ya or anything."

"Ran... ma?" she said softly. _Apologizing? To me?_

"Go on, hit me. I deserve it," he said softly.

Akane felt her spirit sort of melt away as she watched a very pitiful Ranma rock back and forth on the roof of the Tendo house. "I'm not going to hit you, Baka," she said, her voice gentle and warm despite the insult. "I am going to ask why you were looking in my window, though."

"I just..." He stopped and shook his head. "Never mind. Doesn't matter."

"Well, it matters to me." Akane put her hands on her hips and stared at him. "Ever since that whole Saffron thing and the wedding that went horribly wrong, you haven't said more than a few words to me, and I haven't seen you practicing at all. What's wrong?"

He smiled, though it appeared to be forced. "I have been practicing. Just didn't want anyone ta know." He looked away from her. "I'm sorry about the wedding mess, too. My life is just one wreck after another, isn't it?"

"Of course it is!" Akane laughed, causing Ranma to look back quickly. "You wouldn't be Ranma if it wasn't!"

"Ya didn't practice tonight," he said softly.

Akane was a bit shocked that he would have even noticed, given how often he was around these days. "How did you know?"

"I was watching. I have been for quite some time now..." he admitted slowly.

"What?" Akane shouted. "You've been... just watching me? Do everything?" She clenched her fists in rage at her side, trying to decide how best to hurt him severely. "I take it back. You are a pervert!"

"N... not everything, Akane. Just making sure that yer where I think ya're."

"What?" she asked, confused.

"I don't want to risk someone trying to take ya again."

Akane swallowed hard, touched briefly by the thick level of concern that showed through his voice. "You... are trying to protect me?" She then shook her head. "I'm a martial artist too, you know!"

Ranma nodded, but didn't say the first thing that came to his mind for once. "But I don't want ya to get hurt. You almost died..." he stopped, and curled up even more. "I can't let that happen." _You've almost been taken more than enough times already._

_This isn't right. Where is the real Ranma? What is happening to him?_ Akane wondered. "Would you... like to come inside? You know, so we can talk someplace warmer?"

"No," Ranma replied dully. "I'll be fine here."

Akane sighed, and went back inside her room. Moments later she returned to the roof with two thick blue blankets. "Well, if you are staying out here, then so am..." she trailed off. There was no sign of Ranma anywhere. "Damn it, try to be nice, and see where it gets me?" she muttered, crawling back into bed a short while later. It took her a long time to get to sleep.

With summer vacation well underway, Akane was not willing to give up on all her training, and woke with the sun to go on a morning run. When she went downstairs, she heard low voices talking, and she stopped, curious about what was going on.

"He never came home again last night, did he?" a female voice asked. Akane recognized it as Ranma's mother. "Genma, what is happening to Ranma?"

"I don't know Nodoka," Genma answered. "He hasn't slept here in weeks. I don't know where he is sleeping." There was a pause before he went on. "And I guess the fact that you are asking says he wasn't staying at your house again..."

"Maybe at one of his other fiancées' houses?" Nodoka suggested.

Genma snorted, as did Akane's father. Akane backed up a little more, not wanting to interrupt this conversation. If he was staying somewhere else... Akane could feel her anger rising just at the thought of it. "If you could have seen him in the last while, Nodoka, you would know. He would never do that to Akane." She was impressed by how collected Ranma's father was suddenly, given how clueless and foolhardy he usually was.

"So he has made his decision after all," she replied. "Well then, when should the date be? I want grandchildren as soon as possible, you know!"

As Mr. Tendo started to wail about how wonderful it would be, Genma's voice cut through the air again, harsh and unforgiving. "This time, we have to stay out of it. I have tortured my son enough for all of us. When he is ready, then we can have our says." Akane thought then and there that she would have to thank him somehow, at some stage.

"What about Akane? How does she feel about him?" Nodoka asked.

"I don't know," Genma replied softly. "I haven't asked."

"And you won't."

"I know."

Akane hurried out the back exit of the house before she could hear anymore. If they had asked... could she have answered? She pushed open the doors to the Dojo quickly, hoping to catch a Ranma that hadn't gotten up in time, but she found the hall deserted. It was the only place that she could picture him sleeping, if not in a house.

Turning around, she ran headlong into the very person she had been looking for. "Hi," she managed, turning before a blush could rise on her cheeks. _Why am I suddenly so nervous?_

"Not running today?" he asked. "Something wrong, Akane?"

"Ranma, stop being so nice," she said, turning back around. "It doesn't suit you."

"Stupid tomboy, I wasn't being nice. I was trying to make fun of you."

"What?" _That doesn't make any sense at all._ "How would that be making fun of me?"

"Never mind."

"Stop saying that!" Akane cried. "Get in here!" she said suddenly, stepping into the Dojo. Ranma turned around, startled, and then stepped into the hall, shutting the doors behind him. "I need a sparring partner."

"I'll go and find someone," Ranma replied instantly, turning around again.

"Baka!" she yelled, calling him to a stop. "I want to spar with you!"

"You said before it wasn't any fair. I have to fight back. But I ain't gonna." He shook his head, his pigtail moving with him. Even when he was depressed, though, he was a martial artist, and she could see that he was still ready to act, if needed.

"If you win, then you never have to eat my cooking again," she said. He stopped instantly, and turned back around. "That got your attention. Now let's go!"

"Wait," he said, holding up a hand. "What if you win?"

Akane frowned. "I don't think I will. Why ask?"

"With an attitude like that, you've already lost. But it isn't fair to fight if there is only one wager."

"Fine. If I win, then..." Akane searched her mind quickly. "Then you'll take me out on a date!" She clamped her hands over her mouth instantly, and turned around to keep him from seeing her blush. Her second blush in just a few minutes, caused by the same person. _Why did I say that?_

"I don't like these stakes," Ranma said flatly.

"What? What's wrong with me? Don't you want to take me out somewhere? Ever?" she asked, anger burning suddenly. He didn't care about her at all.

Ranma backed away quickly. "Not what I meant, Akane! Not what I..." he stopped when she lunged at him. He spun aside and leapt to where she had been standing moments earlier. She was left standing by the exit.

"Who cares? Just fight me, and be done with it!" she replied with heat, and lunged at him again. Her fists flew at him quickly, but he just dodged around them neatly and seemingly without effort, a smile starting to play on his face.

"You'll have to do better than that!" he taunted her. He stuck his tongue out at her, and Akane could feel her blood boil. She would show him!

"Hiiiiyaaaa!" she screamed as she leapt at him. She lost her concentration when she felt her foot actually connect, and Ranma leapt back as she fell to the ground. _I hit him? But how?_

"Still as clumsy as ever, aren't you?" he said with a smile.

"I'll wipe that smile from your face Saotome Ranma!" she yelled, pushing off of the ground to attack him again. Again, he simply dodged out of the way. Akane was amazed, however, when she felt her fist actually catch him in the shoulder. While he was off balance, she leapt up and spun around to kick him. Ranma was sent sprawling onto the ground, where he remained for a moment before standing.

"Nice work," he said with a straight, flat face. "Guess you won."

"Why'd you go easy on me, Ranma?" she demanded, her anger still very near the surface. "With such a chance as to avoid my cooking forever, and still you couldn't beat me?" she shouted.

"But I didn't want to pass on the other chance, either," he said softly, looking away from her.

"What?" Akane asked.

Ranma shook his head. "I... uh... what I mean is... Akane..."

"Ranma?" she called to him softly as she felt all of her anger drain out of her.

"How could I have asked ya?" he said, and then he turned to leave the Dojo. "Ya know I suck at that kind of thing."

"You threw a match of Martial Arts for that?" Akane cried. "You never lose! You said so yourself, remember, any contest with the words Martial Arts' in it meant that you couldn't lose!"

"I don't think I lost, though." Without another word, Ranma walked out of the Dojo. Akane sank to the floor slowly, not knowing what to think.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world…  
**The Shadows**


	2. Hanashidasu

Chapter Two: To Tell the Truth

Hanashidasu means 'to tell the truth.'

* * *

Two days passed with absolutely no sign of Ranma at the Tendo Dojo. Akane had even taken to walking through the town to try and to find him, but she never saw him at all. Ukyo was equally as worried when Akane asked her. So worried, in fact, that she closed down Ucchan's to try and help find him. Neither really wanted to ask Shampoo, but after failing to find him on their own, they really had no choice. When they arrived at the Cat's Cafe, though, there was no sign on Shampoo, either.

Dejected, Akane left Ukyo to find her own way back home, and just walked through the streets. _Is he with Shampoo right now?_ she wondered. She cursed to herself. _Damn pervert._

"Ranma you jerk!" she yelled from the bridge.

Before she knew what was going on, she was suddenly under the bridge, being held up by two strong arms. Looking up, she found herself closer to Ranma than she could ever remember being before. She didn't have a chance to say anything, though, as he leapt from the perch and landed on the sands next to the river and set her down.

"What did I do this time?" he asked, watching her with more than a little bit of caution.

"Where have you been?" Akane countered.

"Around," he said nonchalantly. "Does it really matter?"

"It does to me. I was... well never mind. Since you don't seem to care, I'll just go home," she said, turning around and taking a few steps in the sand away from him.

"Wait a minute, Akane..." Ranma said, a bit of humour in his voice, and she stopped. "Were you... worried about me?"

"As if, baka!"

"Well then, why were ya..." Ranma stopped and looked up. "Damn. Come on!" he said, scooping her into his arms again and leaping off. She could sense a powerful, warm energy surrounding them, and could hear his heart beating in his chest. She didn't dare struggle, for she knew they were quite high up suddenly. Just as suddenly, though, they landed again, and she found herself set down again.

"What was that all about?" Akane demanded.

"Shampoo. She hasn't left me alone since I left the Dojo a couple of days ago."

"So you've been running around with Shampoo, have you?" Akane demanded. "I'm sorry I was worried about you, then. Good bye, Ranma," she said, turning away from him and starting to walk. Rather, she started to fall. She hadn't realized that they were on a roof.

Before she could fall, though, there was the same warm glow that she had felt earlier while Ranma had carried her, and then she was upright on the roof again. Turning back, she saw that Ranma had a hand outstretched. "I wish ya'd hear me out for once, rather than jumping to conclusions!"

"What?"

"She was _chasing_ me, Akane. I wasn't with her, thank the kami above..."

"Oh," Akane said softly, not sure what else to say.

"Well, I should get you home," Ranma replied.

"I can walk, you know," she replied with a bit of heat.

Ranma's face reddened. "Sorry. I didn't think ya minded..." He picked her up, and before she knew it, they were on the ground again, and she was standing on the road, while he was on the fence beside her. "Let's go, then."

"Why do we have to get home now?" Akane asked.

"I still owe you, remember? Gotta make sure Kasumi doesn't cook for us tonight."

Neither spoke on the way home, and Ranma was upstairs in his room the moment they arrived. Akane sighed and walked into the kitchen, where she found Kasumi, as she expected.

"Please don't cook for Ranma or I tonight, Kasumi," Akane said after a moment.

"Something wrong, Akane?" Kasumi asked, turning with her frying pan still in hand.

"Nope!" she replied, a huge smile on her face as she whirled out of the kitchen before her sister could notice the red in her cheeks.

"Bull," Nabiki said, standing in front of Akane as she tried to go up the stairs. "What's going on between you two? He hasn't been around in a couple of days, and you aren't even mad at him!"

"Well, we're about to go out for the evening. So I'll find out what's going on then."

Dollar signs appeared in Nabiki's eyes as her sister climbed the stairs. She ran to the phone hurriedly, and started dialing a set of numbers quickly.

Akane hesitated next to her door, and then walked further down the hall to knock on Ranma's door. He answered quickly. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Not gonna say here, stupid," he said. "Not with that sister of yours around, anyway," he said with a smile as he started to shut the door.

Akane's hand flew to her mouth as a small, "Oh," escaped.

"You didn't..." Ranma said, opening the door quickly.

"I told her we were going out for the evening, that's all," she replied.

"We had better get going quickly, then. I think you're fine in that," he said, looking over her yellow dress with flowers on it quickly.

"But... I wanted to..." she started to say.

Ranma looked to her face suddenly, and she found herself looking into his grey blue eyes. He saw the urgent look in his features. But she also saw something else, something she couldn't identify. "Get changed quickly then. We'll leave through your window."

He ushered her down the hall and shut the door to her room behind him. "I am not changing with you standing there!" she cried, surprised that he had followed her in. "And just what makes you think you can just walk into my room, anyway?"

"Look, I don't intend to peek at an uncute tomboy like you, so don't worry. I'll stand in front of the open window, looking out. Kay?"

Akane swallowed hard. _Why did he have to insult me just before we go out together on our first real date? Doesn't he care at all?_ She felt the tears well up in her eyes, and she turned away before he could have noticed.

She quickly went over to her closet and found a light blue dress with little swirls on it in black. She pulled off her other dress quickly and slipped on her blue dress with equal speed. She then stopped for a moment, a strange, though a little perverted thought crossing through her mind. She reached down her back and unclasped her bra deftly and threw it into the closet. Sure that Ranma hadn't noticed, she turned around and found him to be true to his word.

_I'll show him just how uncute I can be..._ she thought with a smile.

"Ready, then?" Ranma asked, turning at her touch. When she nodded, he looked outside again. "I know ya said ya don't like it, but to get away from the house quickly..."

"Just keep my dress down, then..." she sighed, exasperated.

Her heart skipped a beat when he picked her up, and she nuzzled into his chest. Surprised, he looked down to her, but she only smiled. "I don't want to feel like I'm falling," she explained. He nodded and then shot out of the window.

Rooftops fell beneath them as Ranma ran, and Akane had no idea where they were when they stopped. She did not even recognize the district of the town he had stopped in. He then opened the door to the building they stopped by, and Akane looked up. "Chez Gemini."

Although she had never heard of the restaurant before, as they entered, it took her breath away. There was only dim lighting, and all the tables were for two. The tablecloths all appeared to be rich red hues, while the walls themselves were soft blues. Most of the tables were occupied by couples who were sitting very close to one another. There was also a very long line of couples waiting to be served.

"Do you think we'll be able to get in tonight?" Akane asked, looking up at Ranma. She suddenly realized that she was clinging to his arm and released him at once.

He looked to her and smiled his smug smile. "Not a problem." He walked to the front of the line, and the waiter looked up. "Reservation for two."

"Name, please?"

"Saotome."

"Saotome, hmm..." the waiter paused as he went down the list. "Here you are, as usual. Let me show you to your seat."

Ranma motioned for Akane to follow, and the two were shown to a table in the corner, almost completely secluded from all eyes.

As soon as they sat down, she looked to him angrily. "What did he mean by as usual'?" she demanded.

"I... uh..." Ranma stuttered, but was interrupted by a voice beside them.

"There has been a booking for two months, each and every night, for Saotome. He paid for the reservations back then, but this is the first time he has actually come. A pleasure to meet you at last, sir," the waiter said, bowing to him. "Here are the menus. Just signal to me when you are ready to order." He then bowed himself out.

Ranma looked to Akane sheepishly. "I told you I couldn't do it..."

There was a silence between the two of them for quite some time, and then Akane reached out to pick up a menu. "How is the food here?"

"No idea," he replied. "Never actually eaten here, really."

"Then why here?"

"I heard it was a good place to bring someone you... ah, never mind." He trailed off a looked away from Akane.

"You what?" she asked him.

"You... uh... care about," he replied. "I wanted our first time out together to be special. You look nice in that dress, you know."

Akane sat back in her seat quickly, a deep blush covering her face suddenly. "What?" she asked, not entirely sure what had gotten into Ranma.

"That dress. Looks nice on you," he said it slower this time.

"What gives, Ranma?" she asked. "First you throw a match to take me on a date, and now you're complimenting me... what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, looking away from her. There was a haunted look in his eye.

"Ranma," she said softly in a sweet, gentle voice. He looked back slowly, and she smiled. "There is something wrong. You've barely even taken the effort of insulting me. You've been this way for a while now, ever since..." she stopped. She couldn't mention it. It was still too cold. Death had almost taken her, and she couldn't look at that feeling again. Not yet.

"I killed him, Akane," he said softly, not looking up to meet her gaze. "I killed him. I thought he killed you, so I killed him. Saffron is dead because of me. Because I thought he killed you. And the real thing is… if I had to do it all over again, I would."

"What choice did you have, Ranma?" she asked quietly.

"There had to be another choice! I used the Art to kill someone, Akane. You don't understand! I'm afraid that I might do it again! How can I stop myself? If I lose control... then everyone might... you might..."

"Baka!" she said harshly, causing him to look up quickly. "If you believe that then you are the biggest baka I have ever laid eyes on!" She snorted. "The Art is meant to protect and defend, remember? My Ranma, killing everyone he knows? Right..."

"Akane, I'm being serious!" Ranma objected.

"So am I!" she replied. "Why did you kill him, Ranma?"

"He was trying to kill you, you clumsy tomboy. He wouldn't stop trying, even if I stopped him for the time being..." he replied.

"Do you really think dad would try to kill me? Or your father? Or Ryoga?" she asked.

"Like he would try that..." Ranma muttered. "What about Shampoo? Or Ukyo? Or Kodachi? She's crazy enough to try, isn't she?"

"She's crazy enough to love you, that's for sure," Akane replied without thinking.

Ranma stood up quickly. "Ok. I just wanted to know how you felt, that's all. Thanks Akane," he said, his voice devoid of emotion, his face pale. He was out the door before she could stop him, and she cursed the fact that his reflexes were so much better than her own.

"Baka!" she muttered under her breath. Leaping up from the table, she chased after him. Out on the streets, she couldn't see him anywhere. Dejected but not beaten, she started to walk along the street, hoping to recognize her surroundings. Shortly, she found herself in the park close to their school. She could see a solitary figure sitting on the bench next to the water fountain.

"Ranma?" she called softly as she approached. The figure looked up and stood to leave. "Wait, please?" she called again. The figure stopped, and Akane ran over to him. "Ranma, I didn't mean it the way it sounded, really!"

"You said she was crazy enough to love me. That makes it pretty clear to me what you think of me, doesn't it?" he replied, turning away. She grasped his shoulder and spun him around.

She was shocked to see tears running down his face - actual, real tears. Ranma had never cried, not really, in all the time that she had known him. "Ranma..." she breathed softly. Before she could stop herself, she flung her arms around him and held him tightly. "You think I'm normal?" she asked without letting go.

"No, I think you're an uncute tomboy," he replied. She swallowed hard. Did he mean that? He couldn't not really... "I'm sorry, Akane. Your life would have been so much easier if I hadn't ever showed up..." he said sadly, removing her arms from around him. "I just messed everything up for you."

"You stopped all the boys from attacking me every morning, didn't you?" she asked him pointedly.

"Yeah, but look at everything else. Your hair was the first casualty, right? And things went downhill from there. And my damned curse doesn't help matters any, now does it?" he said harshly, turning away.

"Baka!" she cried, pulling her mallet out of the air and knocking him to the ground before he could get more than a few feet away. He was up in an instant, facing her again, but not meeting her gaze. "Without you, I would have been stuck with some idiot by now! Like that stupid 7 lucky gods guy, or Toma from that cursed island, right? But you rescued me both times. Without you, I would have been stuck there forever..."

"Yeah, but..."

"No buts, Ranma. My life is much better with you..." she sat down on the bench and waited for him to sit next to her. "But I must say I could do without all the other fiancées..."

"Hey, those ain't my fault!" he said, backing up and raising his hands in defense, knowing what usually followed such a statement from her.

"I know that, baka!" she replied harshly. "But I have to know... do you think they are better than me?" she asked.

"What? Why would you ask that?" he asked softly.

"Well, do you think Ukyo is a better cook than me?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

"Um... yeah! I think a four year old is a better cook than you, Akane!" he replied.

"Well, is Shampoo better looking than me? Better built?" she asked.

"Shampoo is a looker, that's for sure..." he replied slowly, though even as he said it he knew he should have just lied to her. He just couldn't bring himself to do so when she was being so direct with him.

"And I'm just an uncute tomboy who can't cook!" she shouted, standing up and turning to leave. "And here I thought you might have actually cared!"

"Would ya just let me finish for once?" he asked her in a quiet voice. She turned. He never spoke in such gentle tones before. Ever.

"What?" she demanded. Her anger was fading a bit, but not much.

"First, I'm here with you, aren't I? Shouldn't that say something?" he asked. Not sure what to say, Akane sat down again and just looked at him. "And do you think I really care about what Shampoo looks like? Do I really have to remind you that she was the one who stalked me for 2 weeks across China trying to kill me? If I cared about looks alone, then sure, Shampoo could possibly win, if you were having a bad day."

"You're not digging yourself out very well, you know?" Akane said through clenched teeth.

"Please, Akane?" he said, and she remained silent, but did not stand to leave. "Ukyo is a better cook than you. So is Shampoo. But do I care? Honestly..."

"Ranma?" Akane said softly. He stopped talking and waited for her to continue. "Do you really think I'm uncute?" she asked, a quiver in her voice.

"You really haven't been listening to me, have you?" he asked. "No, I don't. I told you that you look nice in that dress, right?" he asked.

"Yeah..."

"If I thought that calling you uncute was hurting you, do you really think I would have done it all this time?" Ranma then smiled. "Well, probably when you were trying to hurt me, then yeah... but otherwise, no way. Though I don't think you are really just cute."

"What?" she demanded, standing.

"You've really got to start hearing me out. Have I ever lied to you about anything after you've heard the whole story?" he asked.

"You've got about five seconds to finish that thought, then!"

"I think cute is not always strong enough. Cute is for little girls. I think you are beautiful, Akane." She stopped and stared at him, not sure what he was playing at. "You really are." He looked into her eyes for a moment, and smiled. "I would have nothing in life that was good without you."

"Ran... ma?" she said softly.

"Uh oh," he said, standing.

"What's wrong?"

"Company's coming," he replied. "Come here," he added, holding out a hand to her. "I have an idea that might work..."

She took his outstretched hand and immediately felt the warm glow again. She knew that it was his ki energy, but she didn't know what was going on. She could feel it all around her, and thought that it may even have been a part of her, too. She could feel his fear, his kindness, and something she didn't understand.

"Airen!" a high voice cried out. Akane turned to see Shampoo on her bike speeding through the park, looking for Ranma.

"Stay quiet," Ranma urged softly. Akane nodded, and then froze, not wanting to move a muscle. Thinking better of it, she moved closer to him, and leaned up against him as he concentrated.

"Any easier like this?" she asked.

"In some ways, yeah," he said with a grin.

Shampoo paused next to them, and looked at the fountain. "Airen no stay near the water. Must be somewhere else. Must stop stupid pervert girl from doing anything with him..." she said softly before speeding off into the distance again.

Akane felt cold suddenly as she was no longer wrapped in Ranma's ki energy. She looked up, and he smiled to her. "In other ways, it's a lot harder to do when you are that close..."

"Airen!" Shampoo cried suddenly.

"Damn!" Ranma cursed, grabbing Akane's hand and starting to run. There was a loud splash behind them, and a wave of water hit them. "No time to stop now!" Ranma-chan's higher female voice said as she ran with Akane.

They stopped a short while later, sitting under a bridge. "And I so hoped to stay a boy for tonight..." she sighed, looking to Akane.

"Why?" Akane asked. "How is tonight different from usual? You always want to stay a boy, remember?"

"Well, I was supposed to be showing you a good time tonight, and as usual I've messed everything up..."

"Baka," she said, swatting him gently. "It's been a fun time. But I have to ask, how do you do that ki thing?" she asked, looking to the much shorter female Ranma.

"Just a moment," Ranma-chan replied as she started digging through one of her pockets hurriedly. She hadn't seemed to even hear her question. Akane stopped her as she pulled out a thermos of hot water.

"Ranma?" she called, getting her attention again. When the smaller girl looked up, Akane gulped. There was something in her eyes that she didn't think she had ever seen before... something scared and vulnerable. Ranma wasn't usually scared, or vulnerable. "Do you... do you love me?" she asked in a rush before she could think better of it. She wasn't entirely sure where the question had come from all of a sudden, but having asked it, she couldn't help but hold her breath and wait for an answer.

Her question apparently caught Ranma-chan completely off guard, as she fumbled with the thermos in her hands, and it rolled down the embankment and into the water. She started to go after it, but froze when she saw Akane, and the blush that had crept across her face. Although maybe crept' simply wasn't strong enough. "What's with ya tonight?" Ranma-chan asked.

"Do you?" Akane pressed on, trying hard to ignore the sting from her last words. "I know you said it before... or maybe you didn't. Maybe, like you said at the wedding, you just don't care! What is it, Ranma? Don't I have a right to know?" She choked back a sob as it tried to eek it's way forward, and she closed her eyes against the tears. "I have to know... do you love me?"

She felt a warm hand on her cheek wiping away her tears, and she opened her eyes to find Ranma-chan sitting a lot closer than she had been a moment ago. "How can I?" Ranma-chan asked quietly. "How can I ask for anything from ya when I'm cursed with... with this?" she asked, sitting back and gesturing to her female body. "How can I ask for anything like that from someone like ya? How could I want to get close to ya when I could get like this at any time?"

"Baka!" Akane whispered fiercely. "Do you really think I care about that?" she asked, wiping away her tears as they came this time before Ranma-chan could. "Haven't you been listening to me? You may be a girl right now, and you may be a guy in a few minutes, but I don't really care. Maybe you just suck with emotions in general. I don't really care about that right now either. So long as... so long as you don't deny your feelings for me now."

Ranma-chan sighed and looked away from Akane. It broke her heart to see the taller girl crying, it really did. "Akane..." he trailed off, looking away from her. "I... I just didn't wanna tell ya like this."

"Tell me what, Ranma?" Akane asked quietly, making her look back quickly.

"I didn't wanna be a girl when I told you that I loved you for the first time," Ranma-chan said in a quick, quiet whisper, looking away again even before she finished as the blood rushed to her face. "I didn't wanna be a girl, that's all."

"Then go get that water bottle," Akane said, pointing down to where it had lodged itself in between two rocks. Ranma-chan looked to her quickly, and then down to the water, and then back. With a nod, she leapt down and, after a splash, she was back, holding onto the thermos. She was shivering, though, as the water in the river was quite cold. She waited until she had poured the hot water over herself before speaking again. "Can you tell me now?" she asked.

Ranma looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. "C'mon Akane," he said ruefully. "Ya know how much I suck at this..."

"Yeah, well sometimes a girl just has to hear things, okay?" she demanded, standing up quickly to turn to leave, despite the fact she had no idea how to get out from under the bridge without splashing into the waters below. She knew she couldn't do that... she still couldn't swim.

"I love you," Ranma said softly before she could even take a single step.

Akane sat down as she faced him again quickly, and she could see how much he was trembling. She hadn't thought he would ever actually say it to her... "I... I love you too, Ranma," she said fiercely as she leaned forward to hug him. "And I really wish you would believe me," she added as they separated again.

"With what?"

"When I tell you that I don't care about your curse!" Akane cried in frustration. "I just don't care. I've never known you without it, so what can I say?" she asked. "You are as Ranma as you can be, right?"

Before he could reply, the sound of a bike bell froze them both on the spot. "Now where Airen go?" Shampoo's voice called. Obviously she had reverted to her human form again, so she must have returned to the Cat Cafe at some point. Akane suddenly had a better idea where they were. "Thought I sensed him..." Neither dared to breathe until they heard her bicycle take off down the road again. They waited even longer before they said anything.

"Ranma..." Akane said softly. When he looked back to her, she took a deep breath to calm herself. "Could you... teach me how to use my ki energy?" she asked. "Could you teach me to be better with Anything Goes?"

Ranma looked puzzled. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to be weaker than the others..." she stammered. _Damn it, why do I have to spell it out for him... I thought he, of all people, would understand!_ "I don't want you to have to always protect me."

"I'll protect you anyway, Akane," he pointed out.

"But what if you need protection?" she asked. He snorted, and she hit him lightly on the shoulder. "No, I mean it. What if you get in trouble, and need help? I want to be the one to help you. I want to fight with you, like we've done a few times. The skating... the food races... the hot springs challenge..."

"I wouldn't want you to come along on some of my trips, though." He looked away from her, finding it too difficult to say while watching her. "It would be too dangerous."

"Damn it, Ranma, if it is so dangerous, shouldn't you have help? I don't want to be stuck at home again like I was when you went to Mt. Horai. Or when you went to Jusenkyo again? I was terrified that something had happened to you, and I couldn't do anything about it," she explained. She realized that she was crying again, but she didn't care. "Besides, if either of us are going to die, I want us to be together when it happens."

"Akane..." Ranma breathed. He put his hands on both her shoulders. She blinked, and found herself lost in his eyes again as she tried to read his emotions. "It won't be easy. On either of us."

"I'm game if you are," she said pointedly.

He nodded. "I'll have to think about it for a bit. Figure out the best way to do this," he explained. She threw her arms around him suddenly, and snuggled in.

"Thank you, Ranma..." she whispered. When she pulled away, she found him looking at her again, as though waiting for a chance to say something. "What is it?"

"Well, if you want to start ki training right away, it won't happen. You don't have the skills needed yet. You simply aren't ready," he explained. "Not enough skill in other areas. Too slow, and still far too clumsy. You might learn quickly - from what I've seen you can learn sometimes when you really want to - but you need a lot of work."

Akane felt her anger rising, and then stopped herself. He was right, really. She had a lousy sense of balance, and he was more than three times her speed when he wanted to be. If he was going to be her teacher, then she would have to be willing to listen to him, even if she didn't like what he was saying. "Alright..." she sighed.

"Don't worry about it, Akane," he said softly. "Look, I'll help as much as I can, okay?"

Akane looked down to avoid his eye, and blushed when she saw just how much her wet dress was clinging to her. It was probably a mistake to take her bra off earlier. Looking back to Ranma, she saw that he was barely even looking at her, and when he did, his eyes never left her face. "What's wrong, Ranma?" she asked, causing him to look back suddenly. "Don't you want to look at me?"

"That's usually a bad idea, remember?" he said with a grin, looking over her shoulder now rather than at her. "You usually send me into orbit with that hammer of yours and call me a pervert just for making a mistake. Do you think I'd look at ya now with that chance hanging over me?" he asked.

Akane's heart froze. Had she really made it so he wouldn't ever look at her, really look at her? Had she trained him to be that way? Why was she suddenly wanting him to look at her so much? "Ranma," she said slowly. "Please look at me," she said. He glanced quickly into her eyes, and then looked away again. "Come here," she said, holding out a hand. Slowly he grasped it, and she pulled him into her arms. "Baka," she whispered. "I didn't mean for you to never be able to look at me that way..."

She felt him move to look down to her. She looked up and found him smiling into her eyes. "I..." he paused and licked his lips. "Akane, I love you," he whispered.

She could feel the breath being crushed out of her as he held her even tighter, and then he loosened his grip. "I love you too, Ranma," she whispered in return.

After the two sat in their quiet embrace for quite some time, she pulled apart. "Would you mind... carrying me home?" she asked quietly.

"You sure?" he asked. "I thought you didn't like me carrying you."

"Not all the time, cause it makes me feel helpless sometimes. But sometimes, just being in your arms is all I really want." When he nodded, she was swept into his arms and he started to move quickly and gently. She nuzzled into his arms, feeling safer than she ever had before.

Ranma...

It wasn't long before they were home, and Ranma set her down on her verandah. "Sleep well, Akane," he said softly. Before she could stop him, he leapt onto the roof, and she knew he was gone again. She just wished she knew where he had left to.

* * *

I'd just like to take a moment to comment on Japanese culture and customs here. I see a lot of fics where the two characters are almost constantly saying that they love each other. And even in the Ranma manga, you see Ranma saying it - but just once.

Truth is, in Japanese culture, the phrase I love you,' doesn't come up that often. It is considered better - more honourable, if you will - to prove through your actions that you love each other. Be considerate of feelings, help out when needed, etc… If the need to tell them that you love them arises, then it usually means that you don't feel your actions are up to the task. That doesn't mean there is never such interaction - just a lot less than most seem to believe. More common is I like you,' or I really like you.' In fact, those two phrases in Japanese are often mistranslated as I love you.' Suki da / Suki yo means like, not love. Daisuki means to really like, but again, not love.

The best example of this fact is in the movie Princess Mononoke. Many people were upset by the ending of it - and yes, this is a spoiler of sorts. San tells Ashitaka either that she likes him a great deal (direct translation) or that he means so much to her (dubbed translation), rather than tell him that she loves him.

The phrase just doesn't come up as often as many seem to believe. In other words, when it is said in this fic, it will be meaningful - a lot more than you might expect.

* * *

Sonic 1: Yeah, this is a do-over, but there will be a couple of changes as time goes on. I very well may add more to the epilogue to cover that area, if interest warrants it, anyway. We'll see, I guess.

* * *

From within **The Shadows**


	3. Ezumen

Chapter Three: The Plan

Ezumen means 'a plan.'

* * *

Akane stepped into the Dojo after her morning run and sighed. Still no sign of Ranma. It had been almost a week since they had gone out and told each other how they really felt, but he hadn't returned yet. Setting up a pile of cinder bricks, she sat down before them and tried to focus. Shaking her head, she stood to do some katas first, hoping to calm herself down. She really couldn't remember being quite so confused before.

As she turned halfway through the kata, she stumbled and fell to the ground. Ranma was standing in the doorway, though she hadn't even heard the door open in the first place. "Ranma!" she cried, leaping to her feet and throwing herself at him in a massive hug. "Where have you been?" she demanded when she finally let go of him.

"Can't tell ya right now." It was obvious that he wanted to tell her something, but wasn't sure it was good time and place, given who else could easily be listening in.

Akane stared at him, debating between hitting him or hugging him. She really wanted to hold him again, but she hated him being so mysterious. She settled on a third option. "Can you show me anything now?" she asked. "To help my training?"

"Akane, in order to train you properly, I would have to hit you, right?" he asked with a sigh. She knew he was right, and nodded. "I can't do that. Not really." He turned and left the Dojo, and she heard a splash from outside. Moments later, a dripping wet Ranma-chan came back into the hall and stopped, shaking her red hair out of her face. "I don't think it'll be any easier like this, either."

"Try me," Akane challenged, adopting her fighting position.

Ranma-chan attacked quickly, but stopped with an open palm attack just inches away from her chest. She sighed and backed away. Not only couldn't she hit Akane, but she felt like she had almost grabbed her... and that wasn't what she was after just then. "I can't hit you, Akane. I just can't do it."

"Do you have any idea why I want you to train me, Ranma?" she asked, fighting back a sudden rush of tears. She wasn't sure why she was crying, but she knew it was either because she was glad he couldn't hit her, or because she wanted him to, but he wouldn't. "Do you?"

"You said, yeah..."

"I want to be your partner, Ranma. In fighting as well as life. How can I ever make you mine if I can't fend off all your other fiancées?"

"You've got a point. You don't have a chance against Ucchan or Shampoo..." Ranma muttered. "Kodachi's a nut case, and I know you can beat her out of the ring. In the ring..."

"Ranma!" Akane said harshly. "I know that... but you don't have to be so mean about it, do you?" she asked, looking away from him so he wouldn't see her tears.

She heard Ranma-chan's bare feet padding along the hall as she came over to her. "Akane, how am I supposed to train ya at all if you won't accept my criticism?" Ranma-chan asked her.

"You mean you'll still...?" Akane asked, looking up into his grey blue eyes with her dark brown ones.

"We'll figure out a way. I want ya'll to myself, too, ya know..." she said with a grin.

She swatted him. "There, now that wasn't so hard, now was it?"

"Do you wanna go on a training trip?" Ranma-chan asked suddenly, looking quite nervous. "Just the two of us, I mean. I don't want anyone else to know that I'm trainin ya."

"Right, as if we ever could do something like that. I can picture it now: Dad will be getting the wedding in order, and Nabiki will have that evil glint in her eye, while Kasumi will just go Oh my.' That won't work."

"Nuts ta that, 'kane. Look, tonight at supper, I'll just announce that I'm going on a training trip. Pops will suggest that, as my fiancée, you should come with me ta cook and take care of me. If ya put up a good enough show, then it should work. They'll force ya ta come anyway," she explained.

"You'd... eat my cooking?" she asked, amazed.

"I doubt that!" she replied with a laugh. "We both have to survive the trip, remember? Just bring along that notebook of your mother's. It'll be a good chance to learn how to be a better cook, too."

"Ranma!" Akane cried, pushing him away. "Do you always have to do that?"

"What?"

"Make fun of my cooking?"

Ranma-chan sighed. "Look, just promise me that everything will be labelled, so ya add the right ingredients, and that you'll try the food before serving it, and I'll eat it, okay?" she suggested.

"Once it's decided, I'll talk to Kasumi."

The day had run on long, and Ranma stood from the table quickly after shovelling in all his food. "Nice of you to join us for once, my boy," Genma said calmly. "Where have you been getting to all these days?" It was hard to say if he was concerned about Ranma's welfare, or concerned that if Ranma wasn't staying with the Tendos, then perhaps he wouldn't be able to either. Knowing Genma… it was the later.

"Doesn't matter, pops. I'm going on a training trip tomorrow, and I'll be gone for a couple of weeks, just so y'all know," he said, turning to leave the room and go upstairs. "And so none of yas come looking for me."

"Oh, then Akane should go with you. You still have to eat on these trips, right?" Kasumi suggested with a smile.

"Then why would I want ta take Akane?" he retorted.

"Oh yeah, like I'd want to go anyway!" Akane cried, standing from the table and glaring at him. "With a pervert like you, as if!"

"Akane! Ranma! Settle down. Ranma, my boy, you are taking her, and that's final," Genma said sternly.

"Cool off, old man!" Ranma replied, kicking at a bucket of water. Moments later, a giant panda held up a sign with the words That's Not Fair' written on it. "Tough break, pops."

"And just what is so wrong with my little girl that you can't stand to be with her Ranma?" Mr. Tendo Tendo demanded, his demon head rearing up above Ranma. "Do you really hate her so?"

"N... no sir!" Ranma stammered, speaking despite his resolve, backing up against the wall to try and escape the demon head.

"Dad!" Akane shouted. The demon head vanished as he turned to face his youngest daughter. "Leave him alone! If I have to go, then fine. But you had better be ready to deal with me when I get back. I'm going to cook for a week!" she threatened.

"N... n... now now, Akane, don't be so hasty..." Mr. Tendo replied, holding up his hands. "Maybe you're right... maybe you..."

"Oh come off it! I'll go on this stupid training trip, and I'll learn how to cook then! I'll show you!" she cried, running from the room to go upstairs to pack. Ranma followed shortly thereafter with a small grin on his face once he was out of sight.

A knock on his door caused Ranma to look up. "Where are you planning on taking her, my boy?" Genma asked calmly.

"What do you care?" he replied coolly.

"You had better keep her safe. If your mother finds out that you went into the woods with her and didn't protect her..." he warned.

"Ha! Mom'll be more upset if I don't sleep with her than keep her safe! Be more manly, wouldn't it?" Ranma replied, his face red with fury. "Now get out and let me pack!" He hurtled the futon at the door, blocking it completely. He leapt out the window with a full pack moments later.

Akane turned as she heard the two fighting, and sighed. What had she gotten herself into? Genma was the one who trained Ranma, and now he was going to train her the same way... was that really what she wanted? She looked up suddenly as there was a rapping on her window. Ranma was hanging from the rafters outside, his back to the window.

She pulled open the window. "Ranma? What's going on?" she asked.

"I can't sleep in there tonight. Not with him in the same room. I'll be on the roof."

"No, you'll catch a cold!" Akane said, worry in her voice.

"Like a cold could keep me down," he replied with a smile. "Besides, I've slept up there before and nuthin came of it. It's just a little colder tonight, that's all."

"But I want us both to enjoy this, remember? Get in here you baka!" she said, pulling on his shirt suddenly. Off balance, Ranma crashed into the ground right on top of Akane. She looked up into his eyes for a moment, and wasn't sure what was going through his mind. She swallowed hard as he leaned down and gave her cheek a quick caress with his lips.

"Sorry," he said immediately, standing and looking away from her. "Shouldn't have done that." He was just thankful that had been all he had done, considering his desire and the position that they had ended up in.

Before Akane could reply, her door swung open, revealing Nabiki leaning against the frame. "Oh, wouldn't father be so happy to know that you're in here, Ranma?" she smiled.

"Look, Nabiki, I don't have any money, so don't even ask," Ranma said curtly.

"Well, that's too bad then. I was thinking of not telling everyone else about this little getaway you two are going on..." she replied with a smile.

"Nabiki, please!" Akane pleaded. Her sister looked to her in surprise. "Please don't tell anyone. Look, I'll owe you one, ok?" she begged.

"You'll owe me more than one, sister dearest." Nabiki shook her head, surprised with herself, and walked away slowly. Her sister had better make it up to her. This would have been worth a fortune.

Akane left her room, only to return with a glass of water a few moments later. "Um..." she stopped, looking at Ranma as he sat in the chair at her desk.

"Might be for the best," he replied with a shrug as he took the water and dumped it over his head. "Brr, that's cold," she said, shivering. She accepted the blanket that Akane offered, and sat down on the floor. "Ready for this yet? This'll be the last night here for a while," she pointed out.

Before Akane could reply, there was a rustling sound near the door, and as she turned, a small black piglet leapt into her arms. "Oh, P-Chan! Where have you been, you silly little piggy?" she asked, cuddling the pig into her arms to hold it close to her.

"Akane..." Ranma said softly. She looked over to her sharply.

"I told you not to make fun of P-Chan before, didn't I?" she demanded.

"I was going to ask that, for tonight, please don't let him stay in here..." Ranma-chan pleaded. "Just... not tonight." She looked away from her slowly and out the window, trying to stay as calm as she could in case Akane refused. " _Please_ …"

P-Chan started to struggle against Akane's grip, trying to reach Ranma-chan desperately. The pig looked very upset suddenly. "But Ranma, I won't see him for a few weeks cause of this training trip..."

"Please?" he asked again. He hated to beg, and knew that if she insisted one more time, he would have to accept it, but that didn't mean he would have to like it.

Akane sighed as she looked at Ranma-chan's pitiful pleading. "Fine," she said eventually. She walked to the door, set P-Chan down, and shut it behind her moments later. P-Chan just stood at the doorway, quivering until Akane could no longer see the small pig. She heard it trotting down the hall moments later, though.

"Akane," Ranma-chan said softly. When she looked, he smiled to her. "Thanks."

"Good night, Ranma," Akane said quietly a short time later as she laid down in her bed after changing into her yellow pajamas. "Sleep well." She was answered by a soft snore.

* * *

Shiomei: I'm glad you like it, thanks. I hope Christmas found you well, and your nephew didn't wreck too much stuff. Here's a bit of a gift, too – since I was away from the net for the past couple of days, I'm posting three chapters all at once.

Sonic 1: Well, we'll see if I add that or not. I can't say for certain right now – though I suspect strongly that there will be one in the sequel…

a: I am reposting it because it was erased the first time around due to 'inappropriate sexual content.' So, with most of that removed, I'm putting it back up, while the original is up at mediaminer (found through my bio). Later chapters will have the most changes – for now a lot will look exactly the same.

Lil Fluff Ball Ashy: Glad you think so, thanks. I hope it continues to please – there's the sequel up already to this, and the full fic will be up here eventually, too.

* * *

And that is all from within **The Shadows…**


	4. Engeejiringu

Chapter Four: The Ring

Engeejiringu means 'engagement ring.'

* * *

"Climb up here, Akane," Ranma said, holding out a hand to pull her up onto the fence. He had both his pack and hers on, while she was carrying little except herself.

"No way, Ranma! People will see up my dress, won't they?" she replied indignantly.

"Well, you should have thought of that before you wore it. Besides, if you care what everyone else thinks, then I'll walk along side so no one can look up. Sound good?" he suggested, jumping down.

"Yeah, no one but you," she pointed out, crossing her arms.

"I'm not gonna look up your dress, alright? Wouldn't want to, anyway..." he said, looking away from her.

Akane stopped, not sure how to respond. Rather than argue further, though, she climbed the fence and stood a little uneasily on the thin railing. "Good. Balance is first. Won't be able to go far in the woods without balance," Ranma explained. "Try not to think about it too much, and you should be fine," he added when she looked down for further instructions. She saw right away that he really wasn't watching her, though she had the distinct feeling that if she were to start to fall, he would catch her. It wasn't a theory she wanted to test, but she was confident in it anyway.

"Al... alright," she said uneasily as she started to walk. She had to catch herself a couple of times, but after the first few steps, it got a lot easier. She found herself wishing after awhile that Ranma would join her up top, or at least look in her general direction once and a while.

But then again, she did make herself pretty clear, didn't she?

The morning was only about half over when Ranma stopped walking, and Akane jumped down. He caught her before she could land, and she looked at him, wondering what was going on. "You were trying to land wrong. You would have hurt your ankles," he explained. "That's next. Jumping."

With that, he set her down and leapt up onto the roof of the house next to them. "Come on up here, Akane," he invited.

She backed up as she was looking. "I can't jump that high," she said slowly.

Ranma leapt back down. "Fine then, how high can you jump? This high?" he asked, jumping only so his feet barely left the ground. "Over your knees, maybe?" he pressed, demonstrating a very weak jump.

He leapt back as she swung at him, trying to knock him into orbit. "Oh come on, Akane, I thought you were better than that!" he taunted as he took off in a run down the street. Furious, she chased after him as he continued to call insults after her.

As he leapt into the air, she followed immediately, and found him sitting on the roof looking quite pleased with himself. "You baka!" she cried, throwing herself at him with her large hammer drawn from the air again. He leapt out of the way and pointed down. Looking, she fell back onto the roof herself as her mallet disappeared. "What? But how?"

"You didn't think about it, did you?" he asked. "You just knew you had to follow me, knew you had to catch me. I knew you could do it."

Akane threw herself at him again, only this time she wrapped her arms around him. "You mean you actually believed in me?" she asked him.

He looked away, embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess it could have been something like that..." He did not put his arms around her in response - mostly because she had managed to pin them to his sides.

She released him and went to the edge. "Wow, we're really high up, aren't we?" she asked, looking back to him. "How did we get here, anyway?"

"This is two stories," he explained. "But in order to jump this high, we hafta use ki energy. Which you just did." Akane stared at him, open-mouthed. "Emotions. Ki is based on emotions to start out. Training will give better control. You think I enjoyed taunting you?"

"You mean you don't, baka?" she asked with a smile.

"Course not, tomboy," he replied. "We have to be able to get down now, though. First, I want ya to get up here a few more times before tryin to jump down." He scooped her into his arms before she could say anything, and they were on the ground again. Setting her down, he leapt back up. "Do I have to insult ya again to get ya up here?" he asked.

Akane took a deep breath and tried to focus on her own ki energy. She remembered the power that she felt while she was angry, and tried to draw on that power. Running, she took a leap into the air, but only made it about halfway up the building before falling down again. Ranma caught her at the bottom before she could land hard, and set her down. He didn't say anything, though.

Taking another deep breath, she yelled and jumped. This time, she caught the edge of the roof with one hand and pulled herself up after a few moments. Ranma leapt up to land beside her. "That was better. Won't take you long to get up with ease, now."

"I thought you said I didn't have the training to use my ki yet..." she pointed out.

"This isn't really using your ki to attack, though, now is it?" he said. He picked her up and was about to jump, but then stopped. "You don't mind me carrying you for now, do you?"

"I can't get down yet, can I?" she replied, her heart suddenly beating much faster. When they landed on the ground, she gave him a quick hug, and then tried to leap back up. She flew up over the building and landed hard on the other side of the roof. Ranma was next to her immediately, though she assured him that she wasn't injured.

"Emotions can be powerful. Don't know what's in your head, but whatever it was, it's pretty strong..." he said softly.

She smiled up to him. "You had better believe it," she replied, blushing and catching him off guard. He had a goofy grin on his face a couple of seconds later, and then shook himself back to reality.

He carried her down three more times, until she could get up without difficulty. The next time they landed on the roof, he stopped her. "Time to learn how to jump down, Akane," he explained. Her heart sagged a little knowing that he wouldn't be holding her again for a while, but she knew she needed the training, and so she stayed quiet. "Land on your toes," he said.

Standing, he ran to the edge and leapt, landing lightly on the ground and crouching into a kneeling position. "Come on, Akane," he called.

She looked down, terrified at the thought. She could easily imagine herself with a broken leg, or worse. And she so wanted to be able to enjoy the next two weeks, just being with Ranma, when he didn't have to have all of his defenses up all the time. Swallowing hard, she ran and leapt.

She didn't land. Instead, Ranma caught her in his arms, and leapt up again. "Not with your heels, tomboy, with your toes. Land with your toes first, and cushion the impact with your ankles and knees." He demonstrated by jumping into the air and landing on the roof so she could see.

"I'll try again, then." Running to the edge, she leapt again. Ranma was waiting at the bottom, and smiled broadly when she landed properly.

"Now go back up," he said matter-of-factly.

Akane sighed and turned around. Leaping up, she found herself on the roof again. Ranma was next to her a moment later, and he smiled. "Good. Now get down from here," he said, pushing her towards the edge. Akane did as she was instructed, and then returned to the rooftop. "Not bad, Akane. Not bad at all. Remember when in doubt: don't think too hard. Ya know what to do. Just do it. Too much thought and ya get lost." She resisted the temptation for a witty remark, and just nodded.

He took off her pack and handed it to her to shoulder. Once the weight was secure on her back, Ranma turned and started to run, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Akane smiled and followed as fast as she could.

"Ranma, wait!" she yelled when she thought he was getting too far ahead of her. He turned and stopped on the building he was at, and she caught him quickly. "Didn't want to lose sight of ya, that's all."

"Then keep up better," he suggested. "Blue really suits you, by the way." He then turned and continued towards the forest. Looking down, Akane wondered for a moment what he meant. She was wearing a yellow dress... she stopped and thought for a moment. She then swallowed deeply. She was only wearing one article of clothing that was blue, and Ranma should not have been looking at that!

"Ranma, get back here!" she cried, running even faster to catch him. "Pervert!"

She leapt off the last building before the edge of the forest to find Ranma leaning up against a tree waiting for her. "Took ya long enough," he said as he looked up when she landed. "Out of shape, aren't ya?"

Rather than reply, Akane raised a hand to slap him hard. Just before she struck, though, she stopped, remembering her promise to herself. "When did you see me wearing blue, Ranma?" she asked, curious.

"When you were leaping down from the buildings. Gotta be more careful. I wouldn't have looked, but I didn't want ya to get hurt when ya landed. Had to make sure you were doing it properly, that's all," he explained, looking away from her and rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

She let her hand strike his cheek, but it was gentle, not really a slap at all. Didn't even turn the skin red. He looked back to her, and she let her hand fall to her side. "What now, then?" she asked.

"Now, I'll take that pack back. This is the last time for this trip, though, Akane," he warned as she undid the straps. "Just giving ya a chance to get used to tree hopping before making you carry the weight at the same time."

"Tree hopping?" she asked. She had seen the others do it before, but had never been able to herself. Bad sense of balance and not being able to jump... her thoughts trailed off. He had just trained her in both.

"Yup. C'mon," he said, leaping to a close branch and then jumping higher to the next tree. If she didn't hurry, he'd be out of sight very soon. Jumping to the branches, she tried her best to keep up. It took a lot more thought to keep her ki flowing so she could jump with enough distance to reach the trees. It soon became obvious that he was holding back, only staying one or two branches ahead of her, just to give her a chance.

By the time they stopped for lunch, Akane was thoroughly exhausted, but loved every minute of it. She was actually going to get better! Looking around, she saw that they had stopped next to a shallow river. Ranma had a fire going in a fire pit, with wood next to it. She quickly changed out of her dress into a skirt and blouse. She thought it might make training a little easier. When she shoved her dress back into her pack, she found that Ranma hadn't looked up from the fire even once as she changed. Though her heart was both pleased and upset, Akane wasn't sure which she would have preferred.

"So, ya bring that book?" he asked, looking to her finally. When she nodded, he motioned to the fire. "Well, get cracking," he said with a smile.

Nervously she pulled out a pot and filled it with water. She set it over the fire on the spit stick that Ranma had just set up, and waited for it to boil. Opening the book, she found the next phase to learn was pasta. She reached into the pack and pulled out a package labelled Ramen noodles.

When the water was boiling, she poured the noodles into the water and pulled out a container of spice to shake into it. Ranma caught her hand just before she could do so. "What'cha adding there, kane?" he asked. Looking at the bottle, she saw the word Cumin.

"Uh... I thought I was adding salt," she explained as she reddened at her mistake.

"Don't worry about it. Just read the labels before you add anything. Start with the basics, remember?" he suggested.

"I don't need cooking lessons from you, Ranma," she glared at him.

"Ya did ask fer my help, remember? Well, fine then." He stood up and looked away from the fire. "Just let me know when it's ready."

"I didn't mean... oh never mind!" she cried, looking back to the pot. After a few minutes she pulled one of the noodles out and bit into it. It was actually edible! "Should I add any spices now?" she asked herself, looking over the book. The instructions suggested leaving the noodles as they were to start with. Sighing, she pulled the pot away and poured the water into another pot, just in case they needed hot water suddenly. They were next to a stream, after all.

"Try some, Ranma," she suggested, pouring half of the pot into a bowl and the other half into another bowl. Grumbling, he sat down across the fire from her and picked up the bowl. She blinked and the food was gone, and he was standing again. "How was it?" she asked.

"Fine," he replied gruffly. "You eating, or what?" he asked.

Sighing, she picked up her own bowl of noodles and ate them quickly. They actually weren't bad, although they were a bit bland. Not bad for a first successful noodle cooking! She just wished that Ranma could encourage her somehow.

Before she could finish the thought, she felt his hands grasp her firmly about the waist. In a blink of an eye she was thrown into the air, and descended again into the shallow river. Coming up spluttering curses, she saw Ranma sitting calmly at the edge of the waters with a pile of stones next to him. "Training again?" she thought out loud. "He could have warned me before throwing me in..." She stopped when one of the rocks hit her in the shoulder.

She took up a stance quickly, and struck the next stone from the air. He smiled as he tossed a stone up and caught it again. He knew she had caught on. From that moment on, the stones, along with Ranma, were a complete blur. She blocked a few from the first wave, but more than she would have liked got through.

When there was a pause, she assumed he must have been out of small enough rocks, but she quickly discovered her mistake. Rather than block this set, she pushed off the rocks in the water and leapt over the projectiles. As she landed on the bank, Ranma had moved again, throwing another set from behind her.

This continued for almost half an hour, and when the rocks finally stopped, Akane fell to the ground onto all fours, gasping for breath. Ranma was standing before her, a slight sweat built up. He was looking very nervous.

"What was that?" she demanded, looking up to him. If she had had the strength, she would have hit him. And hard, too. Or better still, she would have sent him clear to orbit with one of her mallets... but she knew she couldn't.

"I can't very well hit ya myself, now can I?" Ranma said softly, looking away from the very upset, very wet Akane. Before she replied, she stopped herself. She knew he was trying to train her the best way he could. How could she possibly think she could get better without hard training? She sighed and looked back to the ground, and Ranma came a little closer.

He passed his hand through Akane's hair affectionately, which caught her off-guard, and then went off to the side to stoke the fire. Akane got up momentarily and watched. It was only then that Akane realized how well Ranma had planned the attack.

With her clothes full of water, they acted as cushions for the hard rocks. If he hadn't thrown her in the river first, she very well could have broken a few bones... if not worse. As she watching him work the fire, she suddenly realized the horrific amount of trouble he had gone through in the past ten years to get as good as he was then.

She walked over to him and caught his collar. Before he could respond, she heaved him into the water. She came up spluttering. "What the hell'd you do that for?" she demanded.

"All's fair in love and war," Akane replied with a grin. She pulled Ranma-chan out of the cold water and gave her a gentle push towards the fire.

Ranma-chan walked over to the fire and striped off her wet top and pants. She wrung them out and then draped them over the fire to try and dry them even faster. _As usual, no sense of modesty from her..._ "If you want to dry out before we start, that would probably be a good idea," she suggested.

Akane looked at him, surprised by his suggestion. Was he trying to get a chance to look at her... no, he was carefully looking away from her, trying to give her space if that was what she wanted. Even still, she wouldn't even have dared to take off her clothes until she realized that they were in the middle of a large forest, and any travellers would make enough noise to give them both plenty of time to prepare. And if not, she doubted very highly that Ranma would let anyone get close enough to see her anyway.

Akane peeled off her clothing and wrapped herself in a blanket and placed the wet clothes near to Ranma-chan's on the fire. Ranma-chan never even looked at her. Her gaze remained transfixed on the fire. Akane sat down next to her.

"If it's too much, we can stop whenever you wish," stated Ranma in a low tone, "I'll understand. This is tough on me, too."

Akane just smiled as she latched onto her fiancée and held her in a fierce hug. "Thanks, Ranma. I know that must have been hard..."

"Damn right."

Akane held her even tighter. "But at least you're taking my training seriously..."

Ranma-chan stood and pulled her clothes off the line. Akane then saw the pot next to the fire. "There is some hot water in that if you want it," she suggested to Ranma-chan.

"Thanks, Akane," she replied, picking up the water. After dumping it over her head, he wriggled his nose. "Smells like noodles... think I'll change back for now. Don't want to smell like this all day..."

Akane reddened. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ranma. I should have set the water aside before adding the noodles!" she stammered out her apology, but he shook his head.

"Don't worry, just a mistake. We'll heat water again at the camp site." He turned and leapt back into the cold water, and then joined her again, pulling her dry clothes on. "I'll stay this way until then. Gotta train my girl side sometime, right?" She shivered, and Akane started to unwrap her blanket to offer it to Ranma-chan, but stopped just before pulling it off as she remembered that she didn't have anything on under it.

She blushed, but Ranma-chan wasn't even looking at her. Akane stared at her grimly. Even though they were alone, he wouldn't take the opportunity to peek at her. She supposed she should have been grateful, but she couldn't help the nagging thought that maybe he didn't think her attractive enough for him... after all, Ranma's female body was beautiful, and, as he had said before, better built. She hated to admit it, but it was true.

Ranma-chan touched Akane's clothes, and found them to be dry. She handed them back to her, and turned around to let her put them back on. She pulled on her skirt and did up her bra again, and then stopped, an idea in her head suddenly. Dropping her blouse onto the blanket, she came up behind Ranma-chan and wrapped her arms around her. She turned to hug her, and looked away as soon as she saw that Akane wasn't fully dressed yet.

"What's wrong, Ranma?" Akane demanded, putting her hands on her hips, causing a variety of other movement by her actions.

"Akane, I'm a girl right now, remember?" she asked with a sigh.

"No, you're Ranma," Akane corrected her. "And I care for you whether you are a guy or a girl," she explained, moving to enter his line of sight again. "Don't you want to look at me like this?" she asked, a touch of fear in her voice.

Ranma-chan nodded, but did not look. "Akane, I would rather do that as a guy, at least for the first time," she said slowly. "If that's alright," she added hastily.

Akane sighed. _Probably a good idea not to do this now anyway... I've wanted him badly for quite a while now, and being alone is only making that harder._ "Thanks, Ranma," she said as she pulled on her blouse again. She looked at her with a curious expression on her face, and Akane smiled. "Don't worry about why. Just... thanks," she whispered.

Ranma-chan nodded her understanding, and picked up her pack again, and motioned for Akane to pick up hers. She then kicked dirt onto the fire to put it out. "Now let's go again, shall we?" she asked, leaping up to the trees again. Akane was right behind her.

By the time the sun was starting to set, Akane was tired, sweaty, and extremely sore, but quite happy at the same time. They had barely stopped all afternoon. Ranma-chan got far ahead of her just before they stopped, and when she arrived at the small clearing that she had found, she found Ranma-chan already had a tent set up and a fire going to heat the pot of water. As she set her own pack down, Ranma poured the hot water over himself.

"Looks like pops did it to me again," he sighed as he motioned to his pack. "Unless you happen to have a tent in your pack..." he trailed off as he looked to her. She shook her head. "Damn. Wonder when he took it out..."

"What do you mean? We only have one tent?" she asked. "Between the two of us?"

"Don't worry, I'll sleep outside. I'll give you the tent." She picked up the pot of steaming water and dumping it over her. "That's better," he added, looking to her. "How you doing?" he asked.

"Fine," she lied. "So, should I start supper?" she asked, setting her pack down next to the tent and pulling out the supplies.

"In a minute," he replied. "First, a few katas," he explained. He took up a Crane stance, and waited for her to join him. Together, they worked their way through a few simple, and quite a few complex katas. When they were done, Akane was more tired than she had been before. But she also had a few questions for Ranma.

"What stance do you use?" she asked him.

"I don't," he explained easily.

"What? Then why are you bothering to teach me all these, if you don't feel they are worth it?" she demanded, standing again to face him.

"If you know the style, then you know the weaknesses. Once you know enough styles, you can adopt your own. Take the best of everything, and leave out the worst," he explained. "Have you ever seen me take anything but a loose stance?"

"I guess not..." she nodded. She knew what he meant. He really was a good teacher. She wondered if he knew or not... Akane looked down to the fire. "Should I start supper now?"

"You sure you can handle it?" he asked.

"I'm going to try Ramen this time. With everything, not just the noodles," she explained. "I think so..."

"Good luck," he said, looking away.

"You could... help me if you wanted to," she blurted out quickly as she looked through her pack for all the ingredients.

"Ya sure ya want that?" he asked.

"Please," she pleaded.

"Alright, Akane," he said with a smile. She sighed. His smiles, though rare, just melted her resolve, and she was startled when he caught her hand. She felt a warmth spreading from him suddenly, his ki energy she knew, and she felt her own, cooler ki joining it as she was lost in her own world. "That would be the fire, Akane. Don't touch that!" he scolded, tapping the back of her hand lightly with his other hand. He stopped when she looked to him. "Akane?" he called softly.

She leaned up and pressed her lips to his before he could back away. She felt him pressing back to her, and her mind exploded with feeling and new sensations. When she pulled away suddenly, her heart was beating fast and she was breathing heavily. She placed a hand on her chest and looked to him for his reaction.

He was sitting back with a dazed look on his face. She sat forward before he recovered and leaned against him. "Sorry, Ranma. I've been wanting to do that for so long..." she whispered. "And boy, was it worth the wait... I can see why the others are always after you now..."

He pulled away at her words with a groan. "Did you have to bring them up now?" he asked, putting his hands over his eyes. "I just wanted to remember that kiss..." he sighed.

Without warning, Akane leapt at him again and kissed him a second time. When she pulled away this time, she thought it was even better than the last time. "Remember that one, then..."

Ranma just sat there as she put the pot of water over the fire. After a few moments, he joined her, and sat behind her to help with the cooking. Little was said except a few suggestions from Ranma, which she followed completely. She hated to admit it, but he did know what he was talking about with cooking.

It didn't take too long for the ramen to be ready. Akane would have liked for it to have taken longer, because for some reason, she had never felt so close to Ranma before. She sighed as she waited for the spices to heat and settle into the dish.

"Looks good, Akane. Try it first, and let's see what'cha think," he suggested as she served two dishes worth.

She pulled out her chopsticks from her pack and tried some. It wasn't just edible, it tasted pretty good! Not as good as Kasumi's, but still... not bad. She handed the bowl to Ranma and took the other one for herself. "Thanks, Ranma," she smiled to him.

"For what?" he asked as he started to eat.

"Never mind," she replied as she watched him savour her food. He wasn't repulsed by it for once... "Any good?" she asked.

"Meh," he shrugged, standing slowly after setting the bowl down.

"That all you can say, Ranma? Can't you ever give my cooking a compliment?" she demanded, standing and tossing her bowl aside. He dove and caught the bowl, and looked up to her from the ground sheepishly.

"Ya know I ain't no good at compliments, Akane," he said, looking away. "But it tasted..." he stopped.

"Don't worry about it, Ranma," she sighed, taking the bowl back from him and finishing her ramen. _I know that you liked it now, anyway... guess I'll have to start hearing what you don't say, too…_

He moved over to his pack and pulled out a bottle of ointment. "Sore anywhere?" he asked her. "This stuff should help, if ya'd like."

"Just all over. Shoulders, back, legs, arms, you name it..." she said sighing. "Thanks," she said, holding out her hands for the bottle. He shook his head.

"Ya'd have no idea how to apply it. This is the secret Saotome School of Anything Goes Healing Cream," he explained. "Needs to be massaged in," he explained slowly. He then looked away. "Sorry, shouldn't have suggested it, I guess."

"Actually, Ranma, that would feel nice right about now. I'll get ready in the tent, and let you know when you can come in to help," she said, blushing furiously as she moved quickly to the opening. He watched her from behind, surprised by her response. He looked away when he heard her rustling in the tent. "Anytime, now," she called.

"O.. Okay," he stammered. Opening the tent flap, he crawled in and found her to by lying on her front with a skirt on, hiked up to cover just her bum, and no top on at all.

"This good?" she asked with her eyes closed.

Ranma swallowed hard and decided that he didn't trust his voice to answer right then. Instead, he dipped his hand into the cream and started with her shoulders. Aside from just the cream, he had to push the pressure points to relieve the muscles as he went. He took several deep breaths when Akane started to moan. "You okay?" he asked her, stopping for a moment, not sure if he could continue with as much control without a short break.

"Feels wonderful, Ranma. Please, don't stop now..." she said, opening her eyes to look up to him. He looked away from her, trying to hide the red on his face, and she closed her eyes again.

He returned to his duties, saying very little as he applied the cream. When he finished with her back, he started with her thighs. He didn't look at what he was doing, because he didn't want her to think he was staring somewhere else, though he was extremely tempted, especially because of her continued moaning. As he worked his way down, the moaning stopped and was replaced by steady breathing. Stopping when he was finished, he looked to her face and found her deep asleep. He pulled a blanket out from his pack and covered her with it.

Leaning in, he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and left the tent to sit outside the entrance. It wasn't long before he was fast asleep as well.

Halfway through the night Akane woke suddenly, feeling very cold. The blanket around her shoulders had slipped as she rolled over, and she found herself wearing very little and not entirely sure what was going on. As her memory returned, she searched around quickly for her clothes and, upon finding her pack in the tent, she pulled out her yellow pyjamas and put them on quickly. She then noticed that Ranma was nowhere to be found. Opening the zipper to the tent quietly, she found him sitting under a tree, leaning again it fast asleep. She pulled the blanket along behind her and sat down next to him. He didn't move as she put the blanket over the both of them, and then she leaned in against his shoulder and fell asleep again. He was a much warmer and softer pillow than she had been using before.

The next morning when Akane woke up, she found that Ranma was already awake, though he hadn't moved yet. The sun hadn't quite risen, and the dew was still rather heavy in the air.

He smiled to her. "If we don't move into the tent soon, then I'm going to turn girl on you," he sighed. "Do you mind?" he asked. Akane groaned and sat upright, rubbing her neck. She thought she had been quite comfortable, but she supposed that at the angle it must not have been very smart. "And we'll see what we can do about that before going back to sleep for a little while. We can't sleep all day, though," he explained.

Akane grinned and stood up slowly. Ranma leapt to his feet beside her and guided her back to the safety of the tent. Once inside, she sat on the floor of the tent, and Ranma sat beside her and started to work on her neck. A soft moan escaped her lips as she felt the pressure leaving her, and she sighed. "Ranma?" she called.

"Hmm?" was his simple reply as he continued.

"Did you mean what you said the other day?" she asked with her eyes closed.

"When?"

"When?" Akane said, her voice a little harsher. "When do you think, baka?" She turned around quickly and looked at him. "When you were talking about what was good in your life," she said.

"Oh. Then," he replied softly. "Yes. I did, Akane. I still do. I wouldn't have a whole lot without you," he smiled. He then swallowed hard. "I just can't say it before other people. Get too nervous, ya know?"

She nodded. "Ranma?" He continued to look at her. "You are my world…" she whispered, leaning in to give him a kiss. He responded in kind, and then pulled back. She was confused. That kiss hadn't been like the others. Ranma looked equally perplexed, but neither spoke of it. It seemed to be lacking something... not that it was a bad kiss, it just wasn't as bright as the other ones they had shared.

"Your neck doing better?" he asked. When she nodded, he smiled. "Good. We may want more sleep. Long day ahead of us, you know."

"Right now, I just want to lie here and talk, if that's alright," she suggested.

He nodded and lay back onto the ground, on top of a sleeping pad. The height of luxury for the seasoned traveller, but he wasn't about to complain. To his surprise, Akane nuzzled in next to him, and set her head down on his chest. She just lay there for a time, listening to the soothing beating of his heart before anything was said again.

"Is everything alright, Ranma?" she asked quietly.

"Like this, it sure is," he replied.

"Where were you last week? What was going on?" she asked him.

"I was at Ucchan's," he explained easily.

"What?" Akane demanded, sitting upright quickly. She pulled out her mallet again and was about to bean him in the head - as usual - when he caught the descending weapon in one of his hands. She was surprised, as he had never stopped it before, and the weapon vanished in an instant. Confused, she suddenly started to wonder how she had summoned it at all...

"Akane, you've really got to start letting me explain first. Otherwise, you are going to spend your life mad. And you really are cute when you smile, you know," he added with a grin of his own.

Akane took a deep breath and forced a small smile. "What was going on at Ucchan's that took you a week?" she asked in as calm a voice as possible.

"She needed help running the store. So I was there as a waitress," he explained. Akane stared at him. She knew how much he hated being a girl for long periods of time, so what he had done must have been extremely difficult. "I needed the money, so I worked for it."

"Nabiki should take a page out of your book," Akane suggested. "Speaking of which, you told her you had no money to buy her silence. What gives?" she asked.

"I didn't lie. I've got nothing left now, Akane," he said calmly.

"Then what'd you buy with a week's worth of work?"

"Actually, it was closer to three weeks' worth. I worked all the shifts each day but one for sleeping. She said it wouldn't be the same without me around," he added.

_Of course she'd say that, if Ranma was there. That was the only reason... did she try to pay him extra to keep him there?_ "I don't really blame her for wanting you around all the time, though..." Akane whispered.

"Don't want to be there all the time, though. I've got a lot of better things to do than serve idiot customers," he shrugged.

"Then what'd you buy?" she asked.

"Thought you'd never ask," he replied, sitting up and reaching into his pocket carefully. "Akane..." he trailed off, keeping his hand closed around the object in his hand.

"What is it, Ranma?" she asked.

"Things have really gotten botched up a lot since we were first forced together, right?"

"That would be one way of putting it."

"Well, I wanted a choice in the matter. And now I've got one. Akane," he said, opening his hand to reveal a small, velvet covered box. "Have a look."

She took the small jewellery book from his hand gingerly, her own hands shaking uncontrollably. Slowly she lifted the lid to the box, revealing a golden ring with a three-piece diamond in the centre, surrounded by four pieces of topaz. Gasping, she looked up into his watering eyes. "Ranma?"

"Thought you'd like a real one this time," he said with a nervous grin. She giggled when she remembered the pillbox that his mother had had him give to her before. They had both thought that it was a ring, until she tried to put it on. She pulled on the ring, and it came out easily. Testing it, she found it to fit perfectly on her ring finger on her left hand. She then looked back to Ranma. "Akane, would you marry me?" he asked, his voice rough and shaky, but never breaking once as he asked.

"Oh Ranma," she cried, throwing her arms around his neck. "I would love to!"

His arms wrapped around her this time as well, and she felt a warm glow surround them. His ki, of course. She knew that without even thinking about it. Feeling his ki reminded her of her own, which started to spread, warm and comforting this time, instead of cool and untested like it had been before.

She pulled back and looked to him, and then leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. What started as a gentle kiss quickly developed into a much more passionate kiss. This was like the first two kisses. Fireworks came to mind. Just as she started to open her mouth to allow their tongues to explore a bit, she broke away. "We... can't. Not yet," she said as she gasped for breath.

"What's wrong, Akane?" Ranma asked, putting a hand on her back to steady her.

"I don't think I'd be able to stop if we started now, Ranma..." she trailed off. The look in his eyes told her that he had been thinking the same thing, and that he, too, thought it best to wait for something like that.

"For now, let's just relax together, and wait for the sun to actually rise..." he suggested, lying back done. Akane snuggled into him again quickly, and it wasn't long until they were both fast asleep again, though this time, they were both much happier.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...  
**The Shadows**


	5. Ryoga no ShisokonauAkane no Risshiden

Chapter Five: Ryoga's Mistake and Akane's Success

Ryoga no Shisokonau means 'Ryoga's Mistake,' while Akane no Risshiden means 'Akane's Success Story.'

* * *

"When?" Akane asked as the two of them packed the tent into Ranma's larger bag. They had already done their morning katas, and she was feeling quite a bit more refreshed than she had in a long time. He looked over to her. "When should we get married, Ranma?" she asked. She had taken off the ring because she didn't want to lose it. Ranma didn't know where she had put it, but she had decided that looping one of her bra straps through it was probably safest. Especially given that no one would see it there. They had both decided to keep the information a secret for as long as possible.

He shrugged and looked up to the edge of the foliage above them, looking for some sign of the morning sun. "Never thought about it, really. Didn't know if you'd say yes, or send me into orbit..." he grinned. "How bout you?"

"I don't know either. I was thinking after we were both out of school would be best, right?" she asked as he shouldered his pack and tested its weight. "Or would you prefer something else?"

"Probably for the best to wait." Akane took a deep breath to calm herself as she looked at him. By the way he was dressed, it was obvious that they would be doing a lot today. Rather than have his red Chinese shirt on, he just had his tank top and blue pants. She tore her eyes away from the muscles in his arms and moved over to her own pack to pick it up. She was borrowing a pair of his smaller pants and, although they were a little too small for her, they would work better than skirts or dresses. She promised him that she would get a few pairs of pants to train in when they returned home.

"Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!" a loud cry shouted from above. Akane looked up in surprise to see Ryoga leaping down towards the clearing, his red bamboo umbrella held above him like a sword. Ranma leapt aside and stood next to Akane.

"Hey, Ryoga, long time, no see. What's eating you this time?" Ranma asked cheerfully. She couldn't help but grin at the pleasantries that Ranma greeted his rival with, especially considering the death threat that had been issued - not like he wasn't used to those by now.

"You dare to take Akane out into these woods alone?" he demanded, levelling his weapon at Ranma's chest. "Animal!"

"What's wrong, pork butt?" Ranma taunted, moving away from Akane as he tossed his pack to the ground next to her. "She is my fiancée, you know..."

Ryoga didn't reply, but rather, he leapt at Ranma with lightning speed, jabbing with his umbrella all over the place. Ranma simply dodged the attacks and then kicked upwards. Ryoga's umbrella flew into the air and embedded itself into a tree. Ryoga seemed a bit sloppy, and it was then that Akane could see that he, too, fought with anger sometimes. A dangerous trait indeed, now that she could sit back and watch another use it. He wasn't nearly as successful in this assault thus far as he normally was - he hadn't managed to hit her fiancé even once.

Rather than be phased, Ryoga pulled at his bandana until he had three or four in his hand, and hurtled them at Ranma. Ranma leapt over the bandanas, and landed next to his pack. Akane took a step back to stay out of the way. She hadn't involved herself in the fights between Ryoga and Ranma for quite some time.

"You have other fiancées, Ranma! Did you bring them along too? How dare you?" Ryoga demanded. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" he cried, diving at the ground at Ranma's feet. Ranma grabbed his pack and leapt over to Akane, where he set the pack down again and turned back to the lost boy. They didn't need to lose the only tent that they had with them.

"Surprised ya found us, actually. Didn't think anyone knew where we were going. Or did that fact help? If ya knew, ya wouldn't be here by now, would ya?" Ranma joked. "Besides, Akane is my only real fiancée. I do intend to marry her, ya know?"

A dark cloud surrounded Ryoga at Ranma's words. Ranma leapt back and stood next to Akane. "Uhoh," he whispered.

"He wouldn't..." Akane trailed off as Ryoga put his hands together.

"Shishi..." Ryoga started as a ball of energy appeared in his hands.

"Akane!" Ranma cried, grabbing his pack and lifting her into his arms. Knowing he didn't have time to actually run, he pushed out with his ki, trying his best to shield the both of them from the powerful attack of misery.

"Houkou Dan!" Ryoga's finished cry echoed through the woods. A massive explosion of ki energy erupted from Ryoga and blasted Ranma fully.

Ranma gritted his teeth against the strain, and suddenly found himself flying through the air, still holding Akane. The pain was incredible, more than he remembered feeling in a long time. He could hear Akane calling to him, trying to get his attention, but his head was swimming too fast to focus.

When they landed on the ground, Ranma set Akane down carefully, and then collapsed. Akane cried out and set a hand on his chest to try to determine the damage. Immediately, she felt a drain in her energy, and before she knew what was going on, she had lost consciousness as well.

Ryoga took several deep breaths, and then looked around. "Akane?" he stopped when he saw a sock on the ground that they had left behind. "Akane? No!" he cried into the air. "What have I done?" He collapsed to the ground and stayed there for a long time.

----------------------

Akane awoke feeling strangely refreshed, but not really sure what was going on. Sitting up, she found herself in a rather comfortable bed in a large room that had several other beds. The bed next to hers happened to have...

"Ranma!" Akane cried, throwing aside the covers to her own bed and moving next to Ranma quickly. He looked terrible, with burns down his left side and along most of his back. He had protected her from the Shishi Houkou Dan attack. "You shielded me..." Tears were starting to run down her face suddenly. She knew that he was not in very good condition. "I didn't ask you to do that, you baka," she whispered, stroking the side of his face with her hand. He felt desperately cold, like he had no energy in him at all.

"So, you are awake, young one," a voice called to her from the other side of the room. Akane stood up quickly, assessing the new threat. The man was quite old, and was leaning heavily on a walking stick, but that didn't really put her at ease. Visions of Cologne danced through her mind, and she steeled herself.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"My name is Tzusu, and I am the village elder."

Akane looked down to Ranma, satisfied that they weren't facing a threat just yet. "What happened?" she asked the old man, not taking her eyes of the injured Ranma.

"I don't know," he said softly. "A child of the village was playing in the fields and found the two of you. He was covering you, as though trying to protect you," he explained. "I'm sorry, miss, but I don't think your husband is going to make it..."

Akane stared down at Ranma as tears came to her eyes. He wasn't even her husband yet, and now he wasn't going to make it... She leaned down and kissing him gently on the forehead. She was surprised when she felt his ki flare up in response to her own, but more so when she felt a dark presence forcing the ki down again.

"What did you just do?" the old man demanded.

"I don't know... I just leaned in. That was his ki, though," she tried to explain.

"You two can ki transfer?" the man asked, surprised.

"Ki transfer?"

"Share energy... it can help with the healing process," the man explained.

Akane thought back, and remembered Ranma's attempts to save her. She felt his warmth then, and realized that it must have been his ki that she felt. It had been that feeling that had dragged her back from the edge of death, there was no question about it. Now hers was trying to reach him so she could help him, but something was in the way!

"Why isn't it working, though?" she asked. "I know that we have done it before. He would know more about it, though. He is sort of my master as well. My sensei."

"Him?" the man asked, incredulous. "But he's so young!"

Akane grinned. "Yeah, but I haven't seen anyone beat him yet. Even when things look bad, he usually comes back and saves the day."

The man walked over a stood next to Akane. "Ki can not be used here, child. Not safely. We need a stone from the mountain to shield us from the shadow. With the shadow watching, all ki is absorbed through it."

"Where is the mountain?" Akane demanded instantly.

"Oh, I wouldn't suggest going, child. It is far too dangerous. You may be a trained martial artist, but can you fight off daemons and shadows?" he asked.

"I would do anything for Ranma," she replied cooly. "He would do the same for me if our roles were reversed. I'll ask once more before I get angry. Where is the mountain?"

The man pointed to the right of the room. "Leave this building, and it is to the right. The stone is near the top of the mountain, and is a dark blue. It will not be easy to find in amongst the purple stones, though."

Akane didn't even hear the last part about purple stones. She was already out the door, running as fast as she could... as fast as Ranma had taught her to run. The thought of Ranma brought tears to her eyes. "I will not fail you, Ranma. This time, I'll protect you."

The old man looked after Akane for a moment, and then looked down at the injured Ranma. "She called you Ranma, I believe... Could you two be the ones?" he asked. He did not, as he expected, get a reply.

Outside, Akane found the mountain easily. It would not be a simple climb, although there did appear to be a rough path cut out to follow. Rather than wait for other options, she continued to run, and started the long climb. She couldn't even see the peak from the bottom.

As she rounded a bend, she heard a howl above her, and dove to the side as a large creature leapt down at her. Rolling back to her feet, she stared in surprise. This was no creature she had ever encountered before. It reared back and she leapt back in surprise as flames leapt from its mouth.

"A drake, here?" she wondered aloud. As she circled the drake, looking for an opening, it reared back to breathe fire again. "Now!" she cried, charging and striking hard with her fists as fast as she could at the exposed neck. She was suddenly very glad that Ranma had started teaching her the Chestnut Roasting in an Open Fire technique.

The beast slumped backwards, and withdrew. Rather than take the time to follow it, Akane turned and continued to run up the path. She dodge nimbly aside of the next, larger drake, and came upon a small plateau a few minutes later. Looking back, she found that she was quite high up already, but she still couldn't' even see the peak.

As she took a moment to look around, she was startled to see shadows starting to surround her. Looking up, she saw nothing that could be casting such shadows. Suddenly she remembered the old man's warning about shadows. Leaping upwards, she found that she couldn't call on her ki energy to propel her forwards. She cried out as she landed in one of the shadows completely, and her world collapsed around her.

Through the window, Akane could see Ukyo sitting at the foot of the bed, Ranma still under the covers. "Come back, Ucchan," Ranma said with a laugh. "You can get to work later. For now, we still have work here!"

Ukyo smiled back to him, but shook her head. "And just what kind of example would that be for our kids, huh, Ran-chan?" she replied with a grin. Standing, she moved up to the head of the bed and gave Ranma a deep kiss. "Now you get up and open the Dojo. Classes should be started soon, shouldn't they?"

Ranma smiled. "Of course, honey."

Akane pulled back from the window and fought back the tears. What was going on? Ranma with Ukyo? But Ranma was badly injured... what if Ukyo had found out first and decided to try and help? What if she was already with him now? "Kids?" Akane's mind spun suddenly. "How would they have kids already? This must just be a trick in my mind. I've got to get out of these shadows!" she cried. As her world once again shattered around her, she found herself lying on the ground, shadows swarming all around her. They seemed startled when she stood.

She cried out and she ran and jumped, pushing off the ground with all her might. She landed on one hand in a small free space and flipped forward, landing this time on her feet just beyond the furthest shadow. Without waiting to see if they were following her, she started running again, very pleased suddenly that Ranma had given her a pair of his pants. That jump would have been much harder in a skirt.

Continuing on her way up the mountain, she suddenly found her path blocked by a large, scaly skinned creature. It was standing before an archway, which was the only way along the path. It didn't move, although it was obvious that it saw her. It was just waiting for her to make the first move.

_Ranma needs me now!_ she thought urgently. _I don't have time for this!_

Abandoning all reason, Akane charged at the ogre as fast as her legs would carry her without being pushed by her ki energy. The beast lifted its arms to club her, and she dove through the opening that she suddenly saw. _Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts Ultimate Technique!_ she thought with a grin. _Can't defeat it now... run away until you can!_

Coming out on the other side of the ogre's legs, she heard it bellow and saw it start to move. Scrambling to her feet, she tore off up the mountain. When she reached the next plateau, she stopped before entering it. Instead of just running in, she peering around a boulder to try and see what was waiting for her.

On this plateau, it looked like there was a small family of drakes. There were two very large, deadly looking drakes, a few that she had seen earlier, and a couple that were no bigger than she was. She figured those drakes must have been children, still.

There was no way she could beat them, but there had to be a way to pass them. She crawled to the edge of the path and swung her legs out over the side. Deftly, she caught the ledge with both hands and started to move hand over hand until she reached the other side of the plateau. She pulled herself up just enough to see that the drakes were looking in generally the other direction. She pulled herself up the rest of the way quickly and ran beyond the flat to the mountain path again.

As she ran, something sparkled near her feet. Bending down to examine, she found a small purple stone. It seemed to be shimmering slightly at her touch. Shrugging, she held onto the rock and continued on the way up. As she looked up, getting a bit winded by this time, she saw that she was almost at the top. She decided very easily that she did not want to look down at this point.

As she rounded the bend, expecting to find something horrible, she saw a large pool of water. Confused, she walked a little closer to the water's edge and looked in. Although she could barely see the bottom, there was no mistaking the gleam of the stones found there. There were dozens of purple stones like the one she held, and a couple of blue stones here and there. She could feel the energy of the blue stones from where she was.

"Damn it!" Akane shouted at the top of her lungs. "Why the hell didn't I ever learn how to swim?!" Several images of her attempts to learn flashed through her mind quickly before she forced them down again. She had _tried_ to learn, but nothing had been effective thus far.

As she dropped to her knees in defeat, she closed her eyes, and all she could see was Ranma lying on the bed, burned badly. She heard the old man's voice in her mind again suddenly. 'I'm sorry miss, but I don't think your husband is going to make it...'

"I didn't even have the chance to make him my husband, yet!" Akane cursed, punching the ground, cracking the rocks she was kneeling on. She stood slowly, filling with a false confidence that she in no way really felt. She dropped the purple stone on the ground, and it clattered loudly on the other rocks. "I'll get that blue stone, even if it kills me!" she said fiercely. Without another thought, she leapt into the pool of water and started to sink right away.

Before she could panic, she had reached the bottom of the pool. Reaching down, she tried to feel for the right rock, but couldn't. She opened her eyes to try and see, but the water stun badly. Ignoring the pain, she spotted the closest blue stone and picked it up quickly. She could feel herself getting lightheaded from the lack of air. She should have taken a bigger breath before leaping in.

Now that she had the stone, she had to figure out how to get to the surface again. She pushed off the ground as she tried to jump, and rose a bit. Grabbing the wall with her free hand, she pulled herself up a little higher, floating upwards slowly in the water. The idea then hit her. Grabbing at the wall with her free hand, she put both feet against the wall as well and pushed as hard as she could. She shot up to the surface quickly.

Just before she broke the surface, she ran out of air and tried to catch a breath. Instead, she got a lung full of water. Gasping for a real breath when she was finally free of the water, she coughed violently and pulled herself out slowly. She then laid down on the rock and tried to catch her breath. Rolling onto her side, she spit up a lot of water, and then started to breath normally again.

She had done it! She had actually swam to the bottom and back up. Sort of, anyway. Standing slowly, Akane steadied herself against the rock of the mountain. She bent down again slowly to retrieve the purple stone she had found earlier, and pocketed it along with the blue stone.

She flexed her muscles experimentally, and found her ki flowing through her again. Whatever had had a hold on her energy was gone in the face of the stone. She had to get it to Ranma as soon as possible. He wouldn't hold on much longer.

Running to the edge of the plateau, she looked down, and immediately wished that she hadn't. She couldn't even see the base. Ranma's quiet words of encouragement came to her suddenly. _When in doubt, just do it. Don't think. You have the skills._ Taking a deep breath, she ran at the ledge and jumped.

She bounced off the plateau beneath her, and pushed off to aim at the next ledge she saw. Two more ledges and she could see the bottom of the mountain. She stopped at the next ledge as she saw that she couldn't reach the lower ledge without moving over. As she turned to walk across the plateau, she found herself face to face with the family of drakes.

"Genko Fenikkusu!" Akane didn't know where she came up with the right words, but suddenly a ball of ki erupted from her form and burst into flames as it attacked the drakes that were in her path. The flames suddenly had what looked like wings and the ki took shape. With a blinding flash of energy, the flames were gone, but the drakes had been hammered into the rock wall behind them. The larger drakes were trying to stand, while the other drakes didn't look like they'd be moving any time soon. Akane balked and fell to one knee. That had taken a lot more energy than she had expected. "I'll have to get Ranma to show me what I'm doing sometime..." she groaned. "After I save him, of course!" she leapt up again, her energy coming back to her as she remembered Ranma's battered form waiting for her at the bottom.

Running along the edge, she leapt down again and bounced off the remaining ledges until she came to a halt at the bottom of the cliffs. Looking back briefly, she could barely believe that she did it. Without taking any more time, she ran back to the small hut she had left and burst into the door.

Before the old man could say anything to her, she ran over to the still fallen Ranma and put the stone in his right hand and wrapped hers around it. "Come on, Ranma, don't leave me now! Please, don't leave me yet!" she cried when she saw no response. She started when she felt his warm ki suddenly flare to life, and lost consciousness the next moment.

The old man moved to catch her before she fell. He could see the ki energy of the two combining in the air. There was a soft red mixing with a pale blue. It was simply more than he had expected. She had returned successful from the mountain. He lifted her carefully without breaking the contact between the two and laid her down next to the boy she had called Ranma.

He frowned when he sensed something strange about the girl. Reaching into her pockets quickly at the thought, he withdrew a purple stone. It was no longer shining purple, but had a black malevolence surrounding it. "What have you done, girl?" he asked quietly. He did not expect an answer yet, but when they awoke, he had to hope that they were ready. They would not have much time before it arrived.

The old man suddenly found himself wishing that the girl had died on the mountain before finding the purple stone. It would have been much easier, though it would not have changed anything. Maybe... just maybe the two before him really could bring a change. Maybe the shadows really were about to leave the valley.

* * *

Genko Fenikkusu: Phoenix Fist. Akane's power move equalling Ranma's Hiryu Shoten Ha, it is a move that funnels her burning ki into a mass of energy that slams into the enemy like a flaming bird.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world, I will be watching from within…  
**The Shadows**


	6. Kakurezato

Chapter Six: The Village of No Return

Kakurezato means 'Isolated Village.'

* * *

Ranma opened his eyes with a groan. His head really hurt, and, as he tried to open his mouth, he found it quite dry. He could sense more than feel Akane next to him, but that didn't help his pounding headache. Nor did it tell him where he was. He knew it was dark, and he knew he was in a building, but that was about it.

He turned his head to look at Akane without moving anything else. The faint moonlight sparkled across her face as he looked at her, and he smiled. "Wow, she really is beautiful..." he whispered to himself. The feeling in his chest at the sight of her alright calmed him greatly. He didn't have to know where they were - she was alright, and that was what counted. He then bent his head down to kiss her on her forehead. She moaned at his touch, and opened her eyes a moment later.

"Ranma!" she cried, sitting up at once and throwing her arms around him. "Oh, thank the Kami! All of them!" she sobbed into his shoulder. He reached up with his arms, although it was slightly painful to move his left arm, and held her close. "I thought I had lost you..." she whispered, looking into his grey blue eyes.

"I'm..." he managed through his dry throat, staring back into her green eyes. "Harder to lose than you might think..." He then dissolved into a coughing fit. Akane got up quickly.

"Do you need anything? Water? Another blanket?" she asked, feeling a bit chilled herself now that she was away from him.

"I could use a drink," he admitted. "And if you are getting another blanket, you had better be coming back here. I'd much rather hold you than move anywhere else," he managed, lying back down. "Damn, Ryoga must have been really upset..." he muttered.

Akane moved over to the sink and poured a glass of water. She then picked up a blanket and made her way back to Ranma, who was trying to sit up as she approached. She pushed him back down, forcing the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt completely out of her mind. "You aren't ready to be moving yet, Ranma," she pleaded.

"I'll be fine, Akane," he retorted, taking the water and drinking it the best he could while lying down. Somehow, he managed not to spill any of it on himself, which surprised him somewhat. Cold water never seemed to agree with him for very long.

Before he could move, she flung herself on top of him and lay her head down on his chest. "You had damn well better be," she whispered. "And you aren't moving until I let you up, got that?" she demanded in a quiet, fierce voice.

Ranma smiled. "Make yourself comfortable, then," he suggested. Akane rearranged herself so she was lying next to him with her head resting on his chest so she could hear his heart beating. It was still a very calming sound to her. In the end, she was basically wrapped around him.

"Why do you suppose Ryoga was so upset this time?" Akane asked quietly after a few minutes. She knew Ranma wasn't asleep yet. Not only was there was too much on his mind, but she could hear his irregular breathing still, and his heart wasn't going any slower yet. She wondered briefly if he could sense her ki energy that surrounded them and was mixing with his. She decided not to bother asking, though. If he knew, he probably wouldn't talk about it yet, and if he didn't, he would ask on his own.

"I don't know," Ranma said, looking away from her suddenly.

"What is it, Ranma?" she asked, trying to get him to look back to her. "Why won't you look at me?" she demanded. After the past couple of weeks, she was used to him not staring at her body, but he never looked away from her while talking with her. He kept his eyes on her face during conversations, and for him to pull away suddenly was more than a little disconcerting.

"Do you trust me, Akane?" he asked quietly. "Have I ever done anything to make it so you won't trust me?" he added. It sounded like he was almost pleading with her to say that she didn't, a fact that made little sense to her.

"I used to think you couldn't be trusted, not with all your other fiancées always popping in," Akane replied after a moment of thought. "But Ranma, you should know by now that I trust you with everything. Even my own life." _Especially my own life._

"Damn."

"What? What is that supposed to mean?" she asked, surprised by his outburst.

He looked back to her slowly. "That means I have to tell you," he said slowly. "Please don't get mad."

Akane didn't like the sound of that at all. Whenever anyone said that, they were about to drop a bombshell that she should be mad over. "Should I be mad?" she asked. Although she didn't like where the conversation was going, at least he was looking to her again.

"I would be. At least, I'd be mad at myself. But then, I remember that I tried to tell you in the first place, and you wouldn't listen to me then..." Ranma stopped, looking away from her again for a moment before looking back. "That was a long time ago. Shortly after Ryoga started to chase me, even to the Tendo Dojo," he explained.

"You're not making a lot of sense, you know..." Akane pointed out, sticking out her lower lip in a sort of pout. Ranma smiled and kissed her on the nose.

"I don't think you are going to believe me, that's the problem. But I swear to you that it is the truth. Is that enough for you?" he asked, looking deep into her eyes.

"Yes," she said almost instantly. "If you are this worked up about me believing, then it must be true, right?" she asked. "But I don't see what this has to do with Ryoga being so mad just now."

"He was mad just now because I was with you. You have noticed that he has had a crush on you ever since he met you, right?" he asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Were you jealous of him?" Akane replied to his question with one of her own. It was one of those rare questions that she felt she could never ask him without the right chance, and, as the Kami would have it, she was just given it.

Ranma sighed. "A little," he admitted with a shrug. "He could say what I couldn't. All I could do was make fun of you..." he trailed off. "I still feel bad about that, you know."

"Yeah, and I shouldn't hit you all the time. What's your point? We wouldn't be us if we didn't do exactly that," she pointed out. "Baka."

Ranma grinned. "I guess you're right, tomboy. Anyway, that's the main reason he was mad in the first place," he said slowly. Both his insult to her and hers to him were said completely without malice.

"I don't see why that should upset me," Akane said.

"How did he find out about our trip?" Ranma asked her as soon as she said that.

Akane looked puzzled. She thought about it to herself for a moment, and then sighed. "Nabiki, of course," she cursed softly to herself. "Blasted sister, anything for yen!"

Ranma shook his head. "I don't think your sister said anything. Otherwise the others would have found us a lot sooner than Ryoga did. I think he ran across us with dumb luck," he explained. "If he knew exactly where we were, then he didn't have a chance. But all he knew was that we were going on a training trip."

"Well, if Nabiki didn't tell him, then who did? My dad? Mr. Saotome? Kasumi?" Akane asked, listing off people. "You didn't tell him, did you?" She couldn't think of anyone else who would have...

"Think I've got a death wish?" Ranma retorted with a wry grin. "He would have attacked me then if he had any idea! Not that it would have been very effective then, when I would have been on guard. Maybe I should have..."

"Look, stop keeping me in suspense. If none of them told him, then how did he know that we were going off together, and even had it planned?" Akane looked into his blue grey eyes, seeing the fear there. Whatever it was, he really wasn't looking forward to telling her. "He knew we were getting along, too, didn't he?"

Ranma nodded. "You remember your promise, right?" he asked. When she nodded, he sighed. "P-Chan."

"P-Chan?" Akane asked, confused.

"P-Chan," Ranma repeated.

"P-Chan told him? How would Ryoga talk to..." Akane trailed off as a light bulb turned on in her head. All colour drained from her face as she remembered the first night she met her pet pig. Ranma had seemed really upset that she was taking it into her room, but after she accused him of being jealous, he stalked off and didn't say anything else.

She thought of all the times that P-Chan had attacked Ranma. She had thought he had provoked the pig... but now that she really thought about it, he had just been sitting there most of the time. P-Chan was always so peaceful, unless Ranma was around. Ryoga was almost the same way... Thoughts of both the skating and the gymnastic challenge came rushing back, where P-Chan had vanished, only for Ryoga to appear to help. Then when she was drowning, she could have sworn P-Chan had rescued her with Ranma-chan, but Ranma had insisted it was only Ryoga. And the way her pet pig had fought against Ranma-chan's best efforts during the fight against Kodachi...

Then there was the scribbled drawing that had appeared on both Ryoga and P- Chan's stomach. She suddenly understood why Ranma was so worried, though she didn't understand why he had helped him lie to her, except she had made him promise not to hurt P-Chan.

"Damn him," Akane cursed, punching the bed with the hand that wasn't clasped in Ranma's. "Damn him to hell!" she cried, punching it again. She felt Ranma gulp, and looked to him quickly. "Not you, baka," she forced a smile, and then let it drop. "You knew, and tried to tell me. But I told you not to say one word against P-Chan..." Ranma nodded sadly. A thought suddenly went through her mind. "Does Akari know?" she asked.

"I have no idea, Akane," he said softly. "I never asked. Didn't want to ruin Ryoga's chances with her. Figured I had ruined his life enough, though with her love of pigs, it might actually help him." He sighed He was fairly certain that she knew, given that he had shown her rather explicitly, but then, Akane had practically seen the transformation too, and she had no idea. And then there was Kuno and Kodachi, both of whom had surely seen him transform, but were still clueless. "He told me I was the one who knocked him into the cursed spring in the first place. I was chasin pops at the time, and didn't even notice..."

"That is his cursed form, then," she asked, her voice a bit shaky. Ranma nodded. "He will pay for that, then," she said, steel in her voice. "He slept in the same bed as me, and never said a word. He saw me..." she swallowed hard and continued her thought. "He has seen me change. He's seen me with nothing, and yet still wouldn't say a word." Ranma stayed quiet and let her work it out of her system. "All those times when we thought there was a cure to your curse, and he volunteered to help... I thought he was being nice to you, not selfish... I _thanked_ him for trying to help!"

"I'm sorry, Akane," Ranma sighed. "I wanted to tell you, but you were pretty clear before..." he explained.

"If anything like that happens again, Ranma, I don't care how clear I am. Got it?"

Ranma nodded. "Don't worry, dear, the only one who is going to be sharing a bed with you ever again is me." He looked away from her as a blush crept up his cheeks. He could hardly believe he had said that.

"What... did you call me?" Akane asked, her voice calm and gentle suddenly.

"Uh..." Ranma stammered.

"Did you just call me dear?" she pressed him. He nodded sheepishly. She smiled. "That's nice, though," she said when she saw how embarrassed he was. "If you are comfortable enough around me to be able to call me such an endearing name. Even if it is more of a Western term..."

"You mean, dear, instead of tomboy?"

"Baka."

"Sorry," he said with a smile. "I'm not about to call you that when we are around others, though," he explained quickly. _And I probably won't call you that much, either. I just need to come up with an endearing name that suits her..._

"Fine by me," she replied with a sigh as she leaned on him again.

Ranma could feel how tired Akane was. He wasn't sure how, but he could feel it. He suddenly realized that he was just as tired. Blinking, he realized that both of their auras were surrounding them, and most of it seemed to be focused on his back. Their kis were trying to heal his wounds. He tried to say something to Akane, but heard her start to breath deeply and rhythmically. "Good night, dear," he whispered as he closed his own eyes. Akane was already long asleep.

When Ranma opened his eyes again, the sun was streaming in the window, and there was an old man sitting next to the sink on the other side of the room, just watching the two of them. Ranma's eyes hadn't opened enough for the man to notice, and so he just studied him, trying to figure out better what was going on.

The man stood up and leaned heavily on his walking stick. Ranma gave Akane a little squeeze, making sure it wasn't enough to be noticed by the man, and continued to watch. He was standing next to them after a moment of maneuvering around beds.

"You had better wake up soon," the man said quietly. "I can sense the shadows growing restless. The Lord is coming for her soon." He looked away from them and sighed. "I wonder if you two actually are the ones... the ones who can bring the change we need." He looked down to Ranma again. "Are you really as good as she said you were?"

Ranma felt the blush rising in his cheeks. He wondered briefly what Akane had told the man about him, and then opened his eyes carefully, looking straight at the man. "I don't know what she told you, but if some daemon is coming for Akane, then he'll have to get through me first. Shadows or no, nuthin's getting at her when I'm around." He carefully moved Akane off him and set her down on the bed again as he stood. He flexed his muscles slowly and ran a hand along his back. The burn was gone, but it was still a little tender. "I'm the best."

"Amazing..." the old man said, stepping back. Before he could fall over the bed, Ranma caught him and steadied him. "And I thought there was no chance of recovery."

"It'll take more than that to put me down for good," Ranma said with a wry grin. "You said you spoke with Akane earlier. What happened?" he asked. He hated being in the dark about things.

The man looked to Akane, and then back to Ranma. "She saved your life, Ranma," he said. "She risked her own by climbing the mountain for that blue stone you have in your pocket."

Ranma reached into his pocket and found the stone the man was speaking of. "What's so special about this stone?" he asked, peering at it carefully.

"That stone shields you from the shadows. It allows you to use your ki again." Ranma clenched the stone tightly in his hands and felt his aura build around him quickly. He released the stone and put it back in his pocket. "I didn't think she could do it."

"Never underestimate Akane," Ranma replied, looking down to her sleeping form. _I learned that a long time ago._

"Unfortunately, she brought back a purple stone as well. She also used it," the man said sadly. When Ranma looked back to him for more of an explanation, he went on. "The purple stones give one the power to use all of their ki in one attack, but not actually drain all their ki right away." He shook his head. "She used it to attack drakes, I believe. But by using it, she has linked with the Lord. The Lord is coming for her now. He intends to absorb her."

"Over my dead body." Ranma stood taller and looked out the window. He had killed a god for her before and, even though he wasn't happy with that fact, it did give him the knowledge that he could - and would - do it again if it was absolutely necessary. He then turned to Akane as he heard her starting to stir. Sitting back on the bed, he placed a hand on her shoulder to wake her. When she opened her eyes, he smiled. "Morning, sleepy head."

Akane sat up quickly when she saw the other man in the room. "Tzusu!" she cried, surprised to see him so early.

"It is good to see that your husband has made a near full recovery," Tzusu said, bowing slightly to the both of them. "I am quite happy for both of you."

"Uh..." Ranma started, but trailed off.

"We... uh... aren't actually married yet," Akane stammered. "Just engaged."

"Oh." The man looked dejected and turned away from them. "Sorry for the misunderstanding, then. Guess I jumped to conclusions, and got my hopes up."

"What do you mean, got your hopes up?" Ranma asked, confused.

The man sighed. "The legend says that a married couple will suddenly appear in our valley. The two of them will be able to stop the Lord once and for all."

"Would ya just stop saying Lord already and tell us what the hell is goin on?" Ranma demanded, his short patience reaching an end already.

The man looked back to him, apparently surprised that he didn't know. "This is an enchanted valley. No one can enter or exit without the permission of the Lord. No one has seen him for years. They say he comes to the village every now and then to take someone back to his castle. Everyone he takes is dead before they leave the village, though."

"How horrible!" Akane said.

"Yeah, well, he is pretty powerful. He calls himself Lord of the Shadows."

"Big deal," Ranma said with a shrug, drawing a stare from both the old man and Akane. "What? I've dealt with things that sounded a lot worse than that before!" Akane smiled as she saw that he really was back to himself again. Cocky as usual in the face of danger.

"But... the legend..." the man started.

"Like I'm gonna let some stupid old legend tell me that we can't win... I've been told that enough times ta know not ta put any stock in it." Ranma shook his head and looked to Akane. "Ya ready, partner?" he asked with a grin.

"If I can use that move I used on the mountain again, then this guy doesn't stand a chance!" Akane replied, standing from the bed to give Ranma a hug. He caught her before she could wrap her arms around him. There was a dangerous look in his eye suddenly.

"You can't," he said sternly. "It's too dangerous."

"What? You didn't see it, though!" Akane cried, breaking free of his grasp and standing back. How could he deny her the one powerful move that she had learned all on her own? Was it because he hadn't taught it to her?

"Akane," he said softly. "That move was fuelled by the purple stone ya had. Tzusu explained it to me while ya slept."

"Fuelled? How?" she asked, not sure she was following where he was going.

"Fuelled," he repeated. "The stone gave ya the power ya needed to do that without training. But the stone also linked ya to that idiot lord guy." Akane sank to the bed slowly. She had been so sure that she had done it all on her own, and now she was feeling pretty stupid. "Akane," he called, placing a hand on her shoulder. When she looked up, he could see the tears brimming in her eyes. "I won't let him take you. And I will make sure you can do that thing later. Once we have time to train a little more, kay?" he asked, grinning to her.

Akane forced a small smile and grinned back. She then frowned. "What do you mean by you won't let him?" she demanded, standing again. "I thought we were partners."

Ranma broke their eye contact and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't want to put you in danger, though," he said quietly.

"Ranma," she said harshly. When he looked back to her, she grasped both of his shoulders so he couldn't turn away. "I told you, I want to fight with you. I don't want to stand back and worry all the time. If either of us is going to die, it will be while we are with the other, got it?" she scolded. "Besides, don't you trust the training you've given me?"

He sighed. He knew she was good. She could probably beat Ukyo by now. Shampoo would still give her a really hard time. He didn't know if she could beat her in the end or not. But she was a lot better than she had been. With more training, she would be even better. "Alright, partner," he said eventually. He drew her into his arms then, and held her. "We'll do it together." _But I won't let him hurt you._

Tzusu stopped at the exit to the room. "When you are ready for it, there is food available. Come see me in our Dojo," he said as he left.

Ranma turned instantly. "Food? Alright!" He started towards the door, but found himself being held back by Akane. "What's wrong, Akane?" he asked.

She shook her head. She was crying again, and she hated it. "I... thought I was going to lose you back there..." she whispered.

"Like I said, it'll take more'n just Ryoga to take me down for the count," he reassured her, wrapping his arms around her to letter her cry herself out. She pushed away so she could look into his eyes. He was surprised by the haunted look he saw in hers. "Akane?"

"I... had a lot of time... to think about things, Ranma," she said slowly. Ranma felt his heart sink. Now that she knew what being with him was like, she wasn't going to stick around after all. He knew it had all been too good to be true!

He looked away from her, his heart crushed. He felt a hand on his face, forcing him to look back to him. "Ranma... I want to marry you. As soon as we can get things in order at home. That alright by you?" she whispered. "I don't want to wait longer than we have to!" He replied with a kiss. The kiss started as just a brushing of the lips, but quickly became more passionate. Although their auras were not currently out, the passion was still almost overwhelming.

Ranma suddenly found himself plastered against the wall thanks to a large red mallet. Akane rushed over to him quickly to make sure he was alright. "What'd... I do now?" he asked as he knelt to the ground to try and recover some strength. He definitively wasn't at full power again yet.

"We can't Ranma. Not yet..." Akane whispered.

"What's wrong with kissing?" Ranma asked.

Akane looked at him like he had six heads. "Nothing's wrong with kissing, baka," she whispered. "It's what might come afterwards..." When she saw Ranma give no sign, she stopped. She had been thinking about it, but he hadn't been. And she had always called him the pervert...

He stood with a smile. "I know, Akane. That's why I wasn't even thinking about it."

She hugged him again and sighed. "Perverted baka..."

"Uncute tomboy," he replied, holding her close for a moment. He then broke away. "I'm gonna chose to ignore the fact that this time, it was you being the pervert, and not me." Before she could reply to that statement - that she had to admit, held a touch of truth, though she hardly looked at what they would be doing together as a loving couple as perverted in the slightest - he went on. "So, about that food..." He trailed off, looking to her. She smiled and released him as she heard his stomach rumble. Before she could laugh at him, she felt hers do the same.

"Alright... let's go."

As the two stepped out into the morning, Ranma looked up to see that clouds were gathering above them. "Damn," he muttered as he heard the lightning clap in the sky. "Let's hurry!" he cried, grabbing Akane's hand and running across the empty square to the large building that he assumed must have been the Dojo.

As the two stepped into the Dojo, dripping wet thanks to the sudden downpour, heads turned towards them. Tzusu was not in the hall, but there were quite a few students, and a few teachers as well. Ranma-chan motioned to Akane that they should bow.

"Are you here for training?" one of the teachers asked them. He looked over the two of them, not sure what to think. One was taller than the other, with short black hair. She was wearing a pair of black pants and a blue blouse. The other girl was shorter, with flaming red hair held back in a pigtail. She was wearing a shirt from the healing building and black pants that looked the same as the other girl's. The redhead's clothes looked a little big on her, though. She looked quite upset about the rain, too.

"I'm not," Ranma-chan replied. She then pushed Akane forward a little. "But she is." Akane glared at her, but she knew that it was for the best. She did need more training that Ranma, even Ranma-chan.

There was broken laughter from a few of the students until the teachers glared at them. "Haven't seen either of you around here before. Where did you come from?" the teacher closest to them asked.

"We are on a training trip," Ranma-chan explained. "And we're just passing through."

"Training trip? Then where is your master?" the teacher asked, looking behind them.

Akane looked over to Ranma-chan. "She's my master," she explained easily. "Right, sensei?" It still wasn't easy to say that Ranma was better than she was, but she had asked him to train her. So he was, without a question, her master still.

At her words, there was even more laughter, most of which the teachers ignored. "One so young? I doubt it," the closest teacher said. "But you said you came to train. Well, let's see how you do against one of my students, then, shall we?" he asked. He motioned to a tall lad near the back of the Hall. "Miryu," he called. The student bowed to Akane.

Ranma-chan backed up to get out of the way, and Akane adopted a loose stance, as he had taught her. She smiled when she recognized the stance Miryu had taken. It looked a lot like the one her father used to use, when he was willing to spar with her. That had been a long time ago, now.

She waited for him to make the first move. When he did, she spun around behind him and waited again. She was surprised at how fast she had gotten, and realized then and there that all the training that Ranma had given her had really done something. She was faster than ever before, and stronger, too. Better balanced. She would have to really thank Ranma later. Something big... something...

She also found out why Ranma enjoyed dodging attacks as she brought her mind back on track. It was sort of fun to enrage the enemy that way. "Girls," Miryu growled. "Should know their place!" he cried, leaping up into a roundhouse kick. Akane flipped backwards and felt her blood start to boil. Another idiot boy who thought a girl's place was in the kitchen...

"Hiiiiyaaa!" Akane cried, attacking with one hand as fast as she could, slamming into his chest with her fist. He crashed into the wall behind him and crumpled to the ground unmoving. One of the other students went to check on him, and found him out cold.

"Ha!" a cry came from the back of the hall. "One punch from a girl, and he's out!"

"Yeah, I always knew he was a wimp..." another voice agreed. Akane rose slowly to look to the back to see two larger students laughing.

"Want to test your luck against me?" she asked.

"I'd rather see what red over there can do," the larger of the two laughed.

Akane looked to Ranma-chan, who shook her head. "Ya don't wanna do that, really," she replied, standing next to Akane. "Don't challenge me."

"No. I challenge you, redhead!" the boy said, standing. There was a hush in the Dojo suddenly, and a few of the teachers looked to Ranma-chan quickly. After being told not to issue a challenge, and then going right ahead... that really showed disrespect for the opponent.

"I don't think you should..." one of the teachers started to say to Ranma- chan.

Ranma-chan cut them off. "Fine. And let your friend help," she said, motioning for Akane to step back this time. "It'll be more interesting that way."

"Young girl, you should know that those two are our oldest students. Kotara and Jensu have not been beaten in years," the teacher closest to them explained.

"Well, it's about time someone did, then, isn't it?" Ranma-chan asked with a smile.

"Go easy on them, sensei. I doubt there is anyone as skilled at mending people as Dr. Tofu here in this village," Akane said in a soft voice, though it was loud enough to carry to everyone present.

"If I win," Kotara said as he walked to the centre of the Dojo. "You have to go on a date with me." His partner snickered.

"Ranma..." Akane said quietly, her voice full of anger at the thought of it.

"Fine," Ranma-chan replied without thought. "What if I win?"

Jensu laughed out loud, and Kotara smiled. "I'll give you my house, and live in the fields alone," he said. He then shook his head. "Like that's gonna happen. Why don't we just end this now, and go get ready for tonight?" he asked, licking his lips as he looked over Ranma-chan.

Ranma-chan shuddered and adopted a loose stance. "I'd rather not." He then motioned that the boys could start whenever they were ready. As the two attacked from either side, there was a loud crunch as the floor splintered. When the dust cleared, Ranma-chan was standing next to Akane. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Akane looked at her, surprised that she would take the time out of the match to make sure everything was ok. "You have to ask? They want to go out with you! But..." Akane stumbled over her words. She suddenly realized that she had her mallet in her hand.

"Look, I'm all yours, ok," Ranma-chan whispered quickly, and the mallet disappeared again. Akane found herself wishing even more than she understood it. "Don't worry about it." She gave Akane a quick kiss of the cheek, and Akane froze. When she noticed, Ranma-chan bleached. "Sorry. Forgot for a moment there..."

"Get back to the fight!" Akane cried, pushing her back to where the two boys were getting up a little dazed. She touched her cheek lightly and smiled. Ranma was willing to publicly show his affection for once... even if she was a girl at the time...

Ranma-chan spun aside from another attack, and leapt into the rafters of the Dojo. "That the best you two have?" she called. Enraged, the two grabbed bokkens from the side of the room and hurtled them at Ranma-chan.

She kicked them both aside as she dropped. "For cryin out loud, Kuno's more of a challenge than these idiots," she muttered. "Wanna take over, Akane?" she called.

Akane nodded. She would show those two just what would happen when someone tried to take her Ranma away from her. As Ranma-chan stepped back, Akane ran forward. Kotara spun around to kick her, but she wasn't there suddenly.

Instead, she had caught Jensu by the arm and had spun him into the way of the kick. She then leapt back, giving the two a moment to recompose themselves. Suddenly, the two of them ran at her together. Jensu leapt into the air to attack from above, while Kotara attacked directly.

There was a loud crash as Jensu crashed into the wall of the Dojo moments later. He was quickly followed by Kotara who, upon impact, caused the two of them to break through the wall and land outside.

"I believe that is match," she said, breathing heavily. "Honestly... underestimating Ranma's martial arts ability, of all things..." she shook her head. Ranma-chan came up behind her.

"They did it to you, too."

Akane froze as she saw two unsheathed katanas come flying at Ranma-chan's back. Jensu and Kotara apparently did not take kindly to the brutal defeat. "Ranma, look out!" she shouted.

Ranma-chan turned in an instant and put her hands together and closed her eyes. Akane cried out when the katanas almost hit Ranma-chan, but stopped herself as the redhead spun aside and grasped the hilts to both and impaled them in the ground at her feet. She then rose and turned to the exit to the surprise and shock of the two would-be assailants. She couldn't explain how the smaller girl had done it, but that fact wasn't exactly on her mind at the moment.

Both Ranma-chan and Akane walked over to them. "How's the fire, Akane?" Ranma-chan asked her. Akane grinned. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranma cried out as she lashed out at the closest boy. Akane did likewise to the other.

The two then turned back to face the others, and found a teacher bowing to them. "I apologize for the behaviour of my students. They will be duly punished, I assure you," he said quickly. He looked over to Kotara and Jensu, and saw that they hadn't moved since the two had attacked them.

"Don't worry about it," Ranma-chan's cheery voice said. Obviously, she had put the attempt on her life behind her already, as though such a thing happened to her all the time - which wouldn't be far from the truth, all things considered. "They should be alright in a few days. Before that... I wouldn't move them after getting them to a bed..." As she spoke, the two toppled over and lay unmoving on the ground.

Ranma-chan smiled apologetically to Akane as her stomach growled again. "We were told that we could get some food here," Akane said, turning to the teacher at their feet.

"We were told to serve the husband and wife when they arrive..." the teacher said, standing. He looked at the two of them funny. "Should we have been given a better explanation?"

Akane looked embarrassed as she remembered that Ranma-chan had kissed her on the cheek a few minutes ago in front of everyone. "N... no," she stammered. "I am the wife, but this is Ranko. She is Ranma's twin sister. She tends to go wherever he does," she explained.

"So I'm basically her sister... er... in-law, that's all," Ranma-chan explained, trying to help with the alibi. He was really bad at the whole lying thing, and was really glad that Akane had remembered the story they usually told.

The teacher's eyes narrowed. "How did you get in then, Ranko? This valley is sealed..." He looked out the Dojo doors. "And where is Ranma, then?"

"The... uh... power of twins?" Ranma-chan suggested hopefully. Akane nodded quickly, and then motioned to the building they had just come from.

"Ranma is still asleep. He was badly injured, if you can recall," Akane explained. "He still isn't ready to be up and moving around just yet."

The teacher nodded. "Very well. Let me show you to the kitchen," he suggested, motioning to the back of the Dojo, where a door stood slightly ajar. Ranma-chan and Akane thanked the teacher and made their way back.

As soon as they were inside, Ranma-chan set a kettle of water on the stove to heat, and then turned back to Akane. "Akane..." she trailed off. After a few minutes she looked back to her. "Sorry. I really shouldn't have done that out there... hit me and get it over with."

Akane frowned. "No, you shouldn't have. And you really shouldn't go around kissing me anyway out in the open like that. I can just picture our parents now..." she sighed. "But I'll let you get away with it this time, baka," she added.

"Just hit me, Akane."

Akane lifted her hand slowly, and slapped Ranma-chan on the cheek very lightly. So lightly that there was barely a sound from it. "Now that I've hit you, I want to show you how much I appreciated it." Akane darted in and caught Ranma-chan on the lips with her own.

Ranma-chan's eyes opened wide in surprise, but she surrendered completely to the kiss after just a second or two went by. She pressed herself against Akane's body, and felt Akane's warmth spreading through her. Her hands started roaming up and down Akane's back, and she could feel Akane's hands on her. She started to open her mouth to allow their tongues to dance together when a whistling from the kettle behind them brought her back to reality and she broke free.

She picked up the kettle and poured the water on her head and yelped. It was quite a bit hotter than she had expected. When he set the kettle down, his eyes returned to Akane. She had a hungry look to her, and she launched herself at him again.

He caught her in his arms and kissed her again. Although he knew that their ki was not joined at the time, he knew that their hearts were. Akane opened her mouth at the same time as he did, and he felt her tongue exploring his mouth even as his danced about in hers.

He cupped her bum in his hands and picked her up slightly to hold her closer as they kissed. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, and he could feel her pressing more and more into the kiss the longer it went. Her legs wrapped around him slowly too as he held her up. Reluctantly he broke away and forced himself to just look into her eyes.

His own hunger for her was mirrored to him as he saw what she wanted from him. Akane then shook her head, which brought her back to reality. Ranma set her down slowly. "Wow..." she whispered, touching her lips with her fingers.

Ranma smiled. "Yeah..."

"When are we getting married again?" Akane asked slowly, as though considering something very carefully.

"When we get back home and sort everything out, remember?" Ranma replied with a grin.

"I hope that doesn't take too long."

Ranma nodded his agreement and looked about the room for food as he heard Akane's stomach echoing his own. They found rice balls quickly enough, and set into finishing them off before they heard a knock on the door.

Ranma dove for a glass of cold water and dumped it on herself quickly before opening the door. Tzusu was standing there, looking quite surprised to see Ranma-chan dripping wet. He had thought she should have been dry by then...

He let himself into the room quickly, and shut the door behind him. He then looked to Akane. "I have some bad news for you, I'm afraid," Tzusu said slowly. He closed his eyes. He hated delivering bad news. "Ranma is missing."

To his surprise, Akane smiled and laughed. "Oh, don't worry about him. He's always going off somewhere to train. Even when he should be here." She then looked to Ranma-chan. "I guess I should introduce you to Ranko," she added.

Ranma-chan bowed slightly to the old man. "Good ta meet ya, Tzusu," she said.

"I guess Akane already told you about me, did she?" he asked, surprised that this new girl would know who he was. Before Ranma-chan could answer, the kettle whistled again. She quickly removed it from heat and set it aside. She would have been happier using it, but it just wasn't the right time. Not with Tzusu standing right there.

"Uh... yeah. Ranma told me some stuff, too," Ranma-chan managed a fake smile that she was sure was convincing enough. "Ya know how twins are, right? Always telling each other everything..."

"You two must be some truly strange twins, then," Tzusu said, shaking his head.

"They are," Akane reassured him. "Sometimes I think Ranko loves me almost as much as Ranma," she said as a small blush crept up her face as she looked into Ranma-chan's eyes. They were both remembering the past few minutes together...

"Well, I suppose if you aren't concerned about Ranma, then I shouldn't be either," Tzusu said eventually. "That was quite the display in there, by the way. I heard the full story from Honairu," he explained. Before either of them could blush, because they thought he was referring to the kiss, he went on. "Those two have needed someone to teach them a lesson for quite some time now. Honairu was the teacher who pointed out this room to you, by the way."

"We'll have to thank him, then," Ranma-chan said with a smile.

"Don't forget to bring some food back for Ranma. Goodness knows he'll be hungry. A ki transfer of that long must have been incredibly taxing..." Tzusu shook his head and left the room.

"I will," Ranma-chan said with a grin as Tzusu left. Once the door had shut, she continued. "And I am."

Akane swatted at her and laughed. "That was a little too close for comfort, though," she sighed. "How the heck are we going to pull this one off? If we have to defeat this Lord of Shadows..."

"We'll worry about that later, Acchan," Ranma's voice said he was male again. "But first, I've gotta tell ya something before I forget. About that last match you fought."

"Did you just call me Acchan?" Akane asked with a blush.

"Yeah. That okay in private?" He swallowed hard as he looked into Akane's eyes. _That's what I could come up with as a good pet name, anyway... please say it's okay..._

"So long as you don't mind if I call you Ran-chan," she replied. _Even though Ukyo calls you that all the time... you are my Ran-chan, though..._

Ranma nodded. "Now, about that match. Ya got angry too easily, and left yourself wide open. They should'a been able ta hit ya... your entire right side was exposed."

"What?" Akane demanded, standing suddenly from her chair to stare at him. "How dare you tell me to control my temper? You get mad all the time!"

"Yeah. Mad is alright. Mad leaves ya with some control. Angry is too far, though. There is a huge difference," Ranma explained. "If ya're willing... I'll help ya with that, too."

Akane gulped and closed her eyes. "I am willing to learn anything you are willing to teach me," she said softly. It wasn't the first time he had mentioned such things to her, she knew that much. Hopefully, it wouldn't be long until she stopped hearing it altogether...

"Good. Tzusu explained to me a bit about your ki attack on the mountain. We'll start with something smaller when we get to ki attacks, kay?" he asked with a grin. "Though that did sound pretty neat. Phoenix Fist?" he asked.

"Well... you are more linked to dragons, I'd say. You have your Hiryu Shoten Ha, right?" she pressed him. It didn't matter that Cologne had taught him the move. Not everyone could learn it. "Well, I don't really know... the words just came to me. I guess my calling is towards the Phoenix instead."

"That's one thing ya have that I'll never have," Ranma sighed.

"What, I can't be better than you at anything?" she asked, angry again suddenly.

"Anger, Acchan," Ranma reminded her. "Do ya really think Shampoo or Kodachi are going to be nice when they try to fight ya?"

"Answer my question, Ranma." He heard the ice in her voice, and the fact that she did not call him Ran-chan did not go unnoticed. Also not unnoticed was the hammer that had once again appeared.

"Ya can be, Acchan," he reassured her slowly. The words were really hard for him to say. "I will never be able to use the same ki attacks as you. Though I think when ya know enough, we might be able to combine a few of them..."

Akane stared at him, not sure what to say. He had just told her that she would be better than he was with her own attacks. Two different paths, and she was on one while he was on the other. She was okay with that. "Joined attacks?" she asked after a moment.

"Yeah. We have to be pretty close for that though, ya know... And I just thought that... ya know... we might be able to work together and do that..." he stammered.

"Oh, Ran-chan!" she cried, throwing her arms around him again. When she pulled away, she looked into Ranma's eyes, trying to read him. "Why didn't you mention Ukyo when you were talking about anger?"

Ranma looked away. "Sorry, Acchan. I think of Ucchan as a good friend. I don't think she would try to fight you. I hope we are good enough friends for her to just be happy for us." He looked back to her. "Can you understand what I mean?"

Akane shook her head. "Ran-chan, you are entirely too naïve," she sighed. "But with any luck, you will be right in this case. I don't hate Ukyo either."

There was a sudden knock at the door, and Ranma stood quickly, letting go of Akane. Looking around, he saw a window, and saw that it had stopped raining. Akane saw it too. "Go," she urged. He nodded and leapt through the window as Akane opened the door to admit Tzusu again.

"Oh, Ranko is gone," he said with some surprise. "I was just going to bring her a better fitting shirt. That one looked a little big on her. I guess her brother gave it to her at the healing building?" Akane nodded, and he smiled. "I understand." Before he could say another word, there was a crash out in the Dojo.

Rushing out, Akane and Tzusu saw Ranma at the door. He had just burst in. The students and teachers all looked at him in shock, and he smiled. "I am Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," he announced in a loud voice. "Where is Akane, and where can I get something to eat?"

* * *

Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken: Chestnuts Roasting in a Fire. The technique was originally meant as just a method of improving speed, but Ranma adapted it for use in fights, too. The punches are so fast that hundreds appear as only one or two. It is of interest to note, incidentally, that Akane learned this simply by observing Ranma and taking part in his other training. She pulled this off - for the first time - in the Village of No Return against those who tried to fight Ranma dishonourably.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world…  
**The Shadows**


	7. Ki Kunren

Chapter Seven: Ki Training

Ki Kunren means 'Ki Training.'

* * *

The Dojo was quiet in the early morning. Ranma was sitting with his legs crossed across from Akane, who was sitting the same. They were quite close, but neither could quite reach the other.

"Now, Acchan, about ki attacks..." Ranma said slowly, setting the blue stone between them to allow them both to use their ki freely. "Ki, as I told'cha earlier, is about emotion. Control over emotions grants control over ki. Attacks take a lot more control, but if ya jumped down that mountain, then I have no doubt of at least a moderate control."

Akane's eyes narrowed at the perceived slight, but she let it go. He was trying to help, and he had to point out mistakes sometimes. Whenever he saw them was best, but it didn't mean it didn't hurt at all. "I understand," she said softly.

"Besides, you seem to be able to draw out that damn mallet of yours whenever I tick ya off, don't'cha?" he asked with a smile.

"Mallet?"

"Yeah, the one you always hit me with when ya're really mad..." he said, trailing off. "I thought ya knew it was ki... why else would it be so powerful?"

Akane looked carefully at the ground between the two of them. "I thought I was just really strong when I was angry..."

Ranma smiled and waited for her to look back up. "Yer that, too, don't worry. But that mallet is even stronger. Ki is very powerful. Controlled ki is better, though."

"Okay." Akane smiled to herself as he spoke. She knew that she couldn't control the mallet, but she also knew that the very fact that she could summon it, even in a fit of rage, meant she had talent for ki.

"To start off with, you are going to try and summon a ball of ki to hover before you," Ranma instructed. "Feel your ki, feel your emotions, and concentrate."

Akane held her hands out before her as though to cup a ball as he was demonstrating, and then she closed her eyes to concentrate. Her ki was quite cool again this time, and as she opened her eyes and focused on her anger at his criticism, she found that she was holding the cool blue ki in her hands. As soon as she started to stare at it, the ball vanished, and she slouched.

"Don't worry, Acchan. That was very good," he smiled to her. He leaned forward and inched towards her on his knees to give her a quick kiss on the forehead, making her look up. "Few people can even get the ball to appear at all. You have the skills," he explained.

As he sat back, Akane could feel her face turning red. Not only had Ranma complimented her abilities, but he had kissed her again. It always made her feel so warm and fuzzy inside. She closed her eyes again, and this time her ki felt warm... hot even. As she opened her eyes again, she found herself looking at a large ball of red glowing ki energy. She fell backwards in shock, but sat up quickly.

"Tell me, Acchan, what emotion was that?" Ranma asked with a grin.

"Never you mind, Baka," she replied, sticking her tongue out at him. "So, I can make a ball of ki now. How do I throw it?" she asked.

"You don't," Ranma replied. She looked at him, startled. "Not yet. First, I want you to keep trying to make the ball. Try to make small ki balls, and large ones. I want you to know which you are going to make before you make it. It is all about control. When you can do that, then we'll move onto the next step."

Akane sighed but looked back down. He was right, and she knew it. Just like the katas that they always did in the mornings and evenings, you had to start with the basics before moving onto more advanced positions.

They spent most of the morning on the ground, Ranma giving an encouraging word every now and then, and Akane drawing on her ki, trying to perfect the energy. Just when she thought she might have had it, the door to the Dojo burst open and the students and teachers all came in. Akane sighed and stood to leave, but Ranma shook his head.

"Sit, Akane," he commanded. Too startled to argue, she did as she was told. "Try it again," he instructed. She nodded, unsure of herself suddenly with an audience like that. With a deep breath, she focused her energy into making a small ball of ki energy. When she opened her eyes again, she found that she had done it very quickly, and had done it right.

There was a hush over the crowd of students and teachers as the ball formed, but when she looked up to Ranma, they burst into applause. Akane was so startled that the ball vanished as she looked over to them and smiled, more than a little embarrassed.

Ranma tapped the floor, which got her attention again. "Once more. Make it small. This time, make two of them, though," he instructed.

"But I can't..." she started, but Ranma cut her off.

"Not if you say you can't. But I know you can. Don't think too much. Just do it," he told her. She nodded and blinked. She was amazed by the fact that that was all it took to create the two ki balls, one in each hand. "I knew you were thinking too much..." Ranma said with a grin.

"What now?" she asked, holding the energy steady in her hands.

"Throw them. Straight up."

"How?" Akane asked.

"Just do it."

Akane's hands flung upwards as though she was throwing a baseball. The two balls of energy shot up through the ceiling, causing wood and dust to settle down on them slowly. "I... did it!" Akane cried, excited by her victory. It was a small achievement in the grand scale of things, she knew, but it was important. She gave Ranma a quick hug, and then stood up. He stayed sitting on the ground as the students and teachers surrounded him. "What's going on, Ran... ma?" she asked, stammering over his name as she almost called him Ran-chan in front of everyone else.

"Saotome Ranma has agreed to teach us a few things while you are staying with us, Tendo Akane," the closest student explained. "A new sensei adds new life to a dojo." She looked to him, surprised by the reverence in his voice and the fact that he used their full names. The villagers knew their full names, but they hadn't called them by them until just now.

"He has?" she asked, looking to Ranma in surprise.

"Just a few katas," he explained quickly. "Improve stamina and balance, ya know," he added. "Nothing like what I'm giving ta you." A few of the younger students giggled at his words, and Akane reddened. He put his hand over his mouth quickly. "I mean... nothing in the way of training that I giving ya. I'm not hucking rocks at them and all that." The snickering died down as he looked back to the class.

He had the group start a few basic katas, and was next to Akane suddenly. "Did they think I meant..." he trailed off as he looked to her. She was smiling, and started to giggle.

"I'd say so," she whispered. "Most of them still think we are married, remember," she added. "So it wasn't that far a step for them to take. You've got to do better with talking, Ranma..."

"You mind just hitting me now so I can get back to teaching?" he asked her suddenly. She looked at him, not sure what he was talking about. He looked back at her. "You always hit me when I embarrass you, remember?" She shook her head.

"Sorry, Ran-chan," she whispered. "I want to do a few things to you right now, and hitting you is not really on that list," she said slyly. She laughed as he turned bright red, and then she pushed him back to the front.

He led the group through a few complex katas in more or less of a daze, and then stopped them. "Now, with katas, just like with the Art, you can't think about them too much. Ya just gotta do them. Feel them, not think them. Got it?" he asked. He received a murmur of replies, all saying they understood, and he smiled. "Good. I'll turn it over to the masters, then." He bowed to the class, who bowed back. The teachers then went to the front, while Ranma joined Akane in the back.

The two made their way back to the Kotara's house, which Ranma had won fairly, after all. Inside, Akane poked Ranma in the side suddenly. He looked to her, surprised. "Ticklish anywhere, baka?" she asked him.

"You wish, tomboy," he replied with a grin.

"We'll just see about that, won't we?" Akane launched herself at him, and ran her fingers along his sides, trying to find a place where he was ticklish.

He stood there and waited, and then looked down to her and grinned. "What about you?" he asked, tickling her sides. She giggled, but not much.

"That's not where I'm really ticklish..." she suggested, telling him to keep looking while she did the same on him. Under his arms wasn't ticklish, and neither was his neck. He was still standing, so she couldn't check his feet. With that thought, she threw him at the couch and attacked his feet.

Before she knew what had happened, he was on top of her instead of the other way around, fingers roaming her sides, looking for ticklish areas. "Higher," she suggested, and he stopped just below her armpits.

"How about here?" he asked, tickling her lightly.

"Close..." she moaned softly. The thought of repaying his earlier concern suddenly flared in her mind as she felt tendrils of flame licking her sides from where he had just been touching. She moved his hands up a little, stopping them right over her breasts, his fingers brushing her nipples through her shirt and bra. "Try there," she suggested softly. When he started moving his fingers over her breasts, another moan escaped her lips. "Yeah... right there..."

Ranma leaned down and kissed Akane lightly on the lips as she moaned again at his touch. He then stopped. "When are we getting married, again?" he asked her. She smiled and nodded.

"We'll plan everything when we get home. Get rid of the others first..." she sighed. "But if you wanted to keep tickling me..." she suggested with a large smile. She moaned her delight when he obliged her wishes. She closed her eyes, and just let him continue.

* * *

"Ran-chan?" Akane called quietly. She hadn't realized that she had fallen asleep awhile ago. After he had finished... tickling her... he had left her on the couch to relax as he did a few katas of his own, and as she watched his fluent, vibrant form going through the motions as though he was one with them, she must have dozed off.

"Yes, Acchan?" Ranma's voice was behind her. She sat up and groaned.

"Would you mind... using that Cream on me again?" she asked, lying back down.

"Uh... sure," Ranma said after a moment. "I'll go get it," he suggested. Akane smiled and pulled off her blouse and rolled over on the couch. She took off her bra carefully, and put her ring on her finger rather than leave it with her clothes. She pulled her pant legs up to expose as much of her legs as possible, and sighed as she waited for Ranma to return.

"Here we are," Ranma-chan's voice said, coming back into the room. Akane looked up in surprise. Ranma-chan shrugged. "Sorry. Figured it would be easier on us both this way," she grinned wryly.

Akane nodded and laid back down. "You are probably right, Ranma," she sighed. She had hoped to feel his strong hands on her back again. It had felt so good the last time... his female hands would have to be enough, though.

"How's this?" Ranma-chan asked quietly as the cool cream came in contact with Akane's skin. She sighed at the relief that it brought to her tired muscles. Ranma-chan smiled as she heard Akane's quiet moans as each muscle was slowly and carefully relaxed. Ranma-chan stopped when she reached her legs. "Akane?" she called. She thought the taller girl might be asleep, but wasn't sure.

"Hmmm?" came a very tired response.

"Feel good?" she asked as she grasped one of Akane's thighs and started pressing the pressure points. "I understand you worked quite hard the other day."

"When?" she asked sleepily.

"When you climbed that mountain to get the stone," Ranma-chan whispered. "Ya know, when ya saved my life..."

"I... thought you said that it would have taken more than a simple blast from Ryoga to keep you down," Akane replied, opening her eyes to look up to Ranma-chan.

"Normally, it would have. But Tzusu explained everything to me," she said. "Thank you," she whispered, leaning down to say the words right into Akane's ear.

Akane blushed, not used to such close contact with anyone, let alone Ranma. "Would you mind..." she started, and then stopped herself.

"Sorry," Ranma-chan said quickly, sitting up and starting in on the other leg.

Akane sighed. "That's not what I was going to say," she whispered quietly so Ranma-chan couldn't hear her. "I just wanted you to hold me for a bit..."

Ranma-chan continued with her other leg until reaching the toes, and then she put the bottle of cream aside. Sitting back down on the couch, she leaned over and drew a finger along the bottom of Akane's feet.

Akane shrieked in surprise and kicked to get away. "Sorry," Ranma-chan smiled. "Wanted to check n see if you were ticklish there or not..."

Akane rolled over a bit so she could look at Ranma-chan. Not enough to expose herself, but enough to give a pretty strong hint. She saw Ranma- chan look away immediately, and she kicked herself mentally. She was really starting to wish she hadn't conditioned him not to look at her. She then found herself wishing for a kettle of hot water right then and there. The sensation of his hands on her back was one thing... but on her bare front...

There was then a knock at the door, and Ranma-chan stood quickly and tossed a blanket to Akane to cover herself with. Akane stuffed her clothes under the blanket and laid down as Ranma-chan opened the door to admit Tzusu.

"Ah, Ranko. I was starting to wonder where you had gone. We've seen quite a bit of Ranma recently, but not as much of you," Tzusu said as he walked through the doorway.

"Well, I've been out and about. Tryin ta find a way outta this valley, if ya really wanta know," she explained, flicking a hand at their surroundings exasperated. "Haven't come up with much yet, though."

"And you won't be able to." Tzusu looked over to Akane's form on the couch, and saw that she appeared to be asleep under the blanket. He then leaned in to speak quietly with Ranko. "Look, Ranko, you can't tell this to Akane, or even Ranma, alright?" he asked as quietly as he could. When Ranko looked to Akane quickly, she nodded after a moment's thought. "Good. The Lord of the Shadows is coming closer. They don't really stand a chance against him. If I were you, I'd take off for the next few days. You will always be welcome in this village," he suggested to her.

Ranma-chan looked steadily at Tzusu, trying to remain calm. Finally, she managed a small nod, hoping that she looked scared and not angry. She felt angry. Leave Akane indeed...

Tzusu smiled and nodded. "Good. I'd leave tonight, while they are... otherwise occupied," he suggested with a grin. "The way those two behave, I'd assume that at night, they are completely oblivious to everything but each other. Though truth be told, I haven't heard any loud noises, so maybe they aren't as good to each other as I thought..." He looked to Ranma- chan as though hoping she could fill in some details for him.

"Uh..." Ranma-chan stammered. "I... uh... don't think they are at that stage just yet. I understand that they are waiting until they are married first," she managed, a blush creeping onto her cheeks as she looked back to Akane.

"Ah, pity," Tzusu sighed. "To die without ever having experienced each other..." He shook his head and looked back to Ranko. "Remember my warning. Tonight would be best." He then left as quietly as he had entered.

As soon as the door had closed and Ranma-chan was sure he was out of earshot, she turned and punched the floor hard. The wood splintered at the impact, leaving a hole in the entrance. "Damn him!" she cursed. Akane sat up quickly, keeping herself covered by the blanket. "Leave you indeed..." she said, walking back over to Akane.

"Ran-chan," she said softly, looking deep into Ranma-chan's eyes.

"Don't even think it, Acchan," she said quickly. "We are not going to die here. Not like this. So don't even think it," she repeated.

Akane nodded and closed her eyes slowly. She was suddenly very glad that Ranma was female at the moment, or she would have been more tempted than she already was to do something she knew she shouldn't.

"I'm going to bed," Ranma-chan said after a moment. "Come whenever you're ready," she suggested as she entered the bedroom they shared. Ever since arriving, Akane had slept in the same bed as Ranma, though she thought it was getting a little too difficult to sleep in the same bed without partaking in other activities as well. If Ranma was female, though, the temptation should go down a bit. Though Ranma-chan was still Ranma.

Akane pulled on her pajamas quickly and came into the bedroom to find Ranma- chan sitting in the windowsill, looking out at the night sky. She came over to her quietly, and sat down across the window ledge from her. "What's wrong, Ran-chan?" she asked her.

"Just thinking about Ukyo, Shampoo, and Kodachi," she said, not looking back to Akane. It looked like she was looking up at the new moon. Akane felt her temper rise immediately, and she hit Ranma-chan with her mallet. Hard. Looking down, she saw what Ranma had meant about her mallet. She then mentally kicked herself. She shouldn't have hit him with the mallet like that... he must have had an explanation.

Ranma-chan peeled herself off the wall on the other side of the room and stood slowly, a little dazed. "What'd I do now?" she asked, rubbing her head.

"Thinking of?" Akane spluttered. "And you don't know?" she demanded.

Ranma-chan caught on quickly enough and shook her head, shaking her hands as well to try and emphasis the point. "Not in that way, Acchan! No way!" she said, putting a lot of feeling into the words. "I was trying to figure out a way to get them to stop chasing me without hurting them."

Akane took a deep breath, and found herself calming down quickly. She knew that Ranma had had a difficult childhood. With moving so often, and then going away for ten years of training with his father, he never had much of a chance to make friends. Although she wanted nothing to do with any of his other fiancées... Akane stopped herself. Ukyo really wasn't that bad. But the others... she nodded. "I understand, Ran-chan." She sighed. "Sorry for hitting you like that."

"Nah, I deserved it," she said, catching Akane off guard. "I should have phrased it better."

"But you weren't doing anything wrong, Ran-chan!"

"Maybe not, but..." she shrugged. She then frowned. "On second thought, I really don't care about hurting Kodachi. I think that's the only way she'd listen anyway." Akane grinned. She knew how much Ranma hated hitting girls, but still, she could picture him decking Kodachi. The image brought an even larger smile to Akane's face.

"Come on, baka. It's getting late," she said, flopping down on the bed.

"Oh?" Ranma-chan replied. "Thought you had enough sleep this afternoon. You slept through most of it, after all..."

"You never told me how tiring using ki energy was!" Akane protested.

"Didn't think I had to, neither," Ranma-chan shrugged. "Ya knew that it was energy. That has to come from somewhere, right?" Akane rolled her eyes and mentally kicked herself again. She felt like someone should use her mallet to drive some sense into her. She really should have known.

Ranma-chan laid down in bed next to Akane. "I think we'll have to figure out a different way to sleep in the same bed when I'm a girl," she said slowly.

Akane curled up behind Ranma-chan and wrapped her arms around the other girl. She then brought her body in close so she could feel her warmth from her head down to her toes. "How's this?" Akane asked once she was spooning Ranma-chan completely.

"Good..." Ranma-chan sighed and closed her eyes. Before she was asleep, however, she heard Akane's soft breathing steady and become slower. Akane really had been tired. Ranma-chan placed her hands over Akane's, which were on her stomach, and gave them a little squeeze. She then fell asleep herself.

* * *

Another part of **The Shadows** has returned… 


	8. Akane no Kukkingu

Chapter Eight: Akane's Cooking

Akane no Kukkingu means 'Akane's Cooking.'

* * *

Ranma-chan woke to a hot torrent of water, and spluttered through it as he sat up quickly. He saw Akane smiling to him, holding a now empty kettle of water. "Time to wake up, baka," she said with a grin. "Got to get something to eat so we can get back to the Dojo to train." 

Ranma shook his head, spraying a bit of water all over the place as his black pigtail whipped his own face. He then stood slowly and stretched. "Time to change something, though, Acchan," he said with a grin.

"What's that?" Akane asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer. A grinning Ranma in the morning rarely meant good things.

"Morning duel. Before breakfast. Winner gets served by the loser," Ranma explained, waving his hand as thought to skip over any boring rules. She had seen him fighting with his father every morning, though with the two of them, breakfast just happened. There was no serving to each other.

Akane took a step back in shock. "Duels?" she asked. "Like you and your father?"

Ranma nodded, and was taken completely off guard when Akane threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him in a full embrace. "You actually think I'm really for that? That I'm that good?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

He took a deep breath before answering, getting his emotions under control first. "Yer the only girl I know who'd hug me for promising to fight with ya. I will be pullin my punches a bit, though. Otherwise, yeah, I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Why would you do that?" she demanded, releasing him and stepping back. "I'm tough, and you know it!"

"Y'ain't made of stone. Y'ain't Ryoga, Acchan," he replied simply. He kicked himself for mentioning the lost boy, and saw the shadow pass through Akane's eyes.

She nodded after a moment, apparently pushing thoughts of the lost boy out of her mind. "I know, he's built like a brick. Twice as thick, too," she smiled, remembering - fondly - the insults that Ranma had thrown at her a long time ago to get her to remember him after Shampoo's memory trick. "No ki attacks, right?"

"Duh." He nodded, and then bowed to her. "Whenever yer ready, Acchan," he suggested.

"Let's get outside first. Don't want to wreck our house, now do we?" she replied. Ranma nodded, and ran outside the house.

When Akane got outside, she found him standing in a loose stance, waiting for her to come at him. That was just fine by her - she was used to having to start on the offensive. She leapt from the steps of the house at him, crying out as she attacked with as much speed as she could muster. Ranma took a step back and blocked with his arms, but never once retaliated with a strong attack. Instead, each opening he saw, he would poke her with one finger, to make sure she knew it was there.

He leapt back as she spun around to kick him, and he crouched low. When she landed, he sprung into action, attacking her from literally all sides. Each time he broke through her defenses, he only poked her, though. No serious hitting at all. Just that fact alone was enough to spur her onto greater strength and speed, to try and force him to do more.

She caught one of his hands as it came in and turned and threw with all her might. Ranma flew through the air and landed with a thud in front of the Dojo steps. He was on his feet again quickly enough, but noticed that they had quite a few spectators suddenly.

"The married couple is fighting!"

"The two newcomers are going at it!"

"Are they settling an argument?"

"Which one looks angrier?"

Ranma grinned as Akane stood in front on him. She was sweating lightly, but he could tell she was enjoying herself immensely. He ducked down as she attacked and threw out a foot, catching her in the ankle. Without the support and thanks to her previous actions, she lost her balance.

Rather than fall, though, she rolled as she hit the ground, and leapt into the air instead of just standing. With a mighty cry, she flung herself at Ranma foot first from high above him.

He waited until the last possible moment, and then stepped aside and kicked into the air to catch her descending foot. Rather than lose control, which Ranma thought she would have done, she spun with the new energy and kicked him with her other foot.

Ranma flipped in the air and landed hard on the ground - she had definitely caught him that time! The villagers all gasped. With the force that he was struck, he should have been seriously injured, if not dead. Before anyone could rush forward to make sure he was okay, he was on his feet again, circling around Akane slowly.

When she attacked again, Ranma leapt back and grabbed hold of the closest building, hanging off it with one hand on the roof and both feet on the wall, ready to push off again at any moment. Akane leapt up to the Dojo in a similar fashion, and held on for a moment. She knew midair attacks were Ranma's specialty. She only could hope that he trained her well in them.

She pushed off suddenly, and Ranma was a blur as he mimicked her. Though she thought she must have hit him, when she caught the building he had been on, he was already hanging off the Dojo. She had missed him entirely. Her ground speed had greatly improved, but she still needed a lot of work in the air. She grinned as she realized that the morning sessions were perfect for the training she needed.

"That's unreal!"

"How can they do that?"

"How did he get up after that last kick?"

"What is the meaning of all this?" Tzusu's voice rang through the crowd of people watching. Neither Ranma nor Akane paid him any attention. The spectators tried to answer, but they didn't know either.

Ranma leapt at Akane suddenly while she was trying to think. She tried to push away so she could either hit him in a counter or block, but he was simply too fast. He caught her hand that was holding onto the roof and she fell fast to the ground.

She stood quickly, for she hadn't fallen on her face, but landed roughly on her feet. Looking up, she found that Ranma was already following up the attack. She threw herself to the side to avoid his kick, and he spun around and pushed off the building to tackle her. The two rolled over several times before coming to a halt. Ranma had his arms fully around Akane, and she stopped struggling.

They stood quickly and dusted each other off. "How'd I do, Ran-chan?" Akane asked him quietly before the crowd could reach them.

"Quite well. We'll have to work some on the midair thing, but on the ground you have tightened things up a lot. Still leave yourself open when you come in for a left strike beneath my arm," he whispered. "I'll give more detail later. But you fought well. Didn't see that kick comin at all!" He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. Akane smiled, pleased by the comments, and turned to face Tzusu's questioning stare.

No one had come too close to the pair, for it looked almost like they were about to kiss each other when they finished talking quietly. When Akane turned to face them, Tzusu was the only one who had the courage to step forward. "And just what was all that about?" he demanded.

Ranma broke out in a fit of laughter, and Akane glared at him, swatting at his hand as he pointed at the crowd. "Training," she explained. "Can never be too prepared."

"But..." Tzusu stammered, pointing to Ranma.

"What?" he asked as he stopped laughing. "What'd I do?"

"That kick should have killed you!" he managed.

"What kick?" he asked, thinking about the fight. He then remembered Akane's improvised roundhouse kick and grinned. "That? It was a good move, but I'm a lot tougher than I look," he explained.

"But you were barely touching her at all!" he retorted.

Ranma just pointed to Akane, who had pushed her sleeves up to examine her arms where she had been hit. There were large bruises forming already. Akane turned to Ranma in surprise, and he dipped his head. "Ya now how much I hated doin that, right?" he asked meekly.

Akane just hugged him. "Thanks for taking my training seriously, master." When she released him, she turned back to Tzusu. "Any chance of getting breakfast?" she asked. The shocked Tzusu could only nod, and pointed to the Dojo slowly. They had eaten all their breakfasts and lunches there, so they knew it would be there, but they still felt it best to ask each time.

As they made their way to the Dojo, the path of people split to let them through. Ranma leaned over to whisper into Akane's ear as they walked up the steps. "The Cream'll take away those bruises pretty quick, too." She smiled and opened the door for him. "Doesn't make it any easier for me, though."

As promised, Akane served the ready-made breakfast to Ranma, who then refused to eat until she had her own as well. As soon as she had sat down, though, he wolfed down every last bite he could reach. Akane rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. Ranma looked at her. "What?" he asked.

"You eat like an animal."

"What?"

"You. Eat. Like..."

"I heard what you said, tomboy, I wanted to know what you meant."

"I meant that you have no table manners whatsoever," she sighed. "Not like you'd care about something like that," she muttered, standing once she had finished her own meal. Ranma said nothing in response.

The morning was spent with Akane practicing summoning and aiming small bits of ki energy. Ranma had her shape the energy into slivers this time, though, and asked her to shoot them through small rings he had set up around the Dojo. The hardest part was dissolving the energy before it struck anything else after going through the rings.

Akane took a deep breath partway through the morning and closed her eyes again. Before she could summon the ki, she felt two strong hands on her shoulders. She opened her eyes and looked up to Ranma as he gave her a quick massage.

"You were getting frustrated, Akane," he said softly. "I think that's all for today. We'll do more tomorrow, kay?" he suggested. She pushed his hands away and shook her head fiercely.

"Just a few more, Ranma," she insisted. "I can do this." Focussing again, she called into being two bright blue slits of energy. Holding out her hands, she looked up and concentrated on the small rings. The two bolts shot off in opposite directions of each other.

She dissolved one with a sigh and focussed on the other one as it shot through a ring. Rather than give it up right away, she sent it around quickly to hit three more rings before letting it go. She took a deep breath and looked up to Ranma. "I can get one to behave properly. Why can't I do both at once?" she asked.

Ranma sat down beside her and looked at her meaningfully. "I mean this in the best possible way, Acchan, but I think ya have too good a head on your shoulders. You've gotta think about the theory, but in practice, just do it!"

"And just what is that supposed to mean, exactly?" she asked.

"Ya're thinking far too much. Feel the energy, and use it. But don't think about it. That just messes ya up too much." He looked away from her. "That, and yer getting angry again."

"I am not," she insisted. She looked down when he grasped one of her hands and forced it open. She had small indents where her fingernails had been digging into her palm. Two of the indents were deep enough to have drawn blood. She stared in shock.

"Yer angry at yourself, Acchan. And ya don't have to be. This is extremely hard stuff to do at the best of times. And here we are, stuck in an area where ki is naturally difficult to use," he explained. "Given that, I think yer doing very well already."

"I'm sorry, Ran-chan," she sighed.

"For what? Ya know how I was when I was learnin this crap?" he asked. When she shook her head, he closed his eyes, remembering in the woods with his father. "I kept trying until I passed out. Always drained my energy just too much," he explained. "Didn't do any good, either. Should have taken it at a better pace. Would've learned faster that way. Took a couple of weeks before I could control my aura and ki… and I think it should've taken me less than that. Too damn stubborn for me own good, I guess."

She looked up to him. "Trying to tell me something, are you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No need. You know how stubborn you are," he said with a grin.

"Baka," she said, closing her eyes again. This time, she tried not to think about things as much when she opened her eyes to look at the ki. The slits were a soft red this time, and she blushed as she realized just what emotion she was using. Ranma really was good to her, and she knew it. Flinging the darts outwards, she sent them spinning around the rings and through them, and then let the energy disappear.

Before he could get away, Akane turned and pushed him to the ground. She was on top of him in an instant, looking deep into his blue grey eyes - the eyes that she could, and did, get lost in whenever she looked into them. The emotion she had drawn on was burning brightly within her. "I love you, Ran-chan," she said quietly as she leaned down to kiss him.

"I love you too, Acchan," he replied just before their lips met. Both of their minds were blown by the sheer power of the kiss, and when Akane pulled away, she was breathless.

"Wow..." she said again.

"I think..." Ranma panted. "I know what increases it like that..."

"What?" Akane asked in a daze.

"Don't wanna say, in case I'm wrong. We'll test things later," he suggested, a glint in his eye as he looked into hers. She smiled and leaned down to kiss him again, but he stopped her by cupping her cheek in one hand. "They'll be coming in soon," he said sadly.

She gave him a quick kiss and then reluctantly got off him. Rather than simply stand, Ranma flipped onto his feet again as the doors opened to admit the other students. "Wow," he said softly. "For once my timing doesn't suck."

After leading the group through a few katas, Ranma left them to join up with Akane at their house again. As promised, he gave her another full massage with the Saotome School of Anything Goes Healing Cream, which cleared up the bruises he had given her on the arms. By the time he had finished, she was fast asleep again. He knew she had pushed herself with the ki training. Not that he blamed her, really. He had done the same thing, after all.

He knew she had bruising on her chest and stomach as well, but he didn't dare roll her over, or even wake her to suggest his helping there. Instead, he left the bottle next to her and went to take a bath. He felt like he needed a good long, cool soak.

As the afternoon passed slowly, Ranma-chan found herself almost asleep in the cool water of the bath. She also found herself thinking more and more of home. Not really of Pops, but of his mother. She knew about his curse now, which was a blessing in a way, but Ranma-chan had never taken advantage of it. He wanted to get to know his mother again, and vowed to himself that, when they made it home, he would live with her for a while. That way she could be sure to be included in the wedding plans, too. She smiled to herself. The perfect excuse, too. He had tried living there just before leaving for China the last trip... but hadn't left the Tendo's once getting back. With the wedding being planned (in secret for a while, anyway), he would need a safe haven that his other fiancées wouldn't attack again… not after having destroyed it once already and having to face down the Saotome matriarch.

She then sighed. She really didn't want to leave Akane, though. She was just as used to sleeping in the same bed as Akane was. Maybe she could sleep at the Tendo's - without their knowledge - and spend the rest of his time with his mother. He'd have to ask Akane to see what she thought.

Ranma-chan then stopped. Her mother was always after her to be more manly.' If he wasn't manly enough, he could get that katana of hers in a very bad place... Seppeku. Of course, if she was to be forced, and for whatever reason agreed with it, she knew she wouldn't need a second to help silence her - she would never scream during such an ordeal. She sighed, and closed her eyes again. Even though her mother knew about the curse, it was still an issue.

In the living room, Akane awoke to find herself covered with the blanket again, and Ranma nowhere to be found. She listened carefully and heard water being splashed about. "I wonder if that's hot or cold..." she thought out loud, though quietly. She sat up slowly, and then reached down to grab her bra. Before she put it on, though, she saw the bruising. Her shoulders were pretty bad, and she had a few on her stomach, too. There was even a bruise under one of her breasts.

Looking around, she found the bottle of healing cream, and dipped her fingers in. As she applied it to her skin, she took a sharp intake of breath. It seemed much colder when she did it compared to when Ranma did. She found herself wishing partway through that Ranma had done her front too. And not just because the cream wouldn't have been as cold, either...

In the cool bath, Ranma-chan stood slowly and stretched. The afternoon was drawing on, and she knew it. Stepping out, she turned on a hot shower and stepped into it. He allowed the warm water to drip down his hair, and he just stood with his head under the spray for a few minutes, warming himself up a bit. Although sitting in the cold water had felt good, he didn't really want to get sick when he was away.

He then towelled himself off and pulled on his black pants again. He pulled his usual tank-top on, followed by his red Chinese shirt, and then tied the strings shut.

When Akane was done with the cream, she ran her fingers along the bruised areas, amazed at how she could actually watch the bruising fade and then vanish. She then pulled her ring off her finger and threaded one of the straps to her bra through it before putting it back on. She flexed her muscles, and found that, as usual, Ranma had done an excellent job of relieving tension. She pulled on her white blouse and went to the bedroom to find Ranma.

He entered at the same time through the bathroom door. "Find the cream alright?" he asked, looking out the door of the bedroom rather than at her.

Akane nodded. "So... hungry?" she asked.

"Yup. But not for their food. I want you ta cook again tonight," he suggested.

"You... want to eat my cooking?" she asked, confused.

"So long as you take yer time with it, then yeah. Why not?" he asked.

Akane turned quickly before he could see the tears in her eyes. She had never thought she would _ever_ hear anyone ask for her cooking… ever. She nodded and left the room to go to the kitchen quickly. She would make the best damn meal he had ever eaten in his life!

After finding all the ingredients as Ranma had suggested as the best way to start any recipe, she flipped to the fifth page of the book and found directions on cooking rice. She put a large pot on the stove, covered it, and flipped further into the book. Ramen was all well and good, but she wanted to be able to cook other things, too.

Her eyes settled on gyoza (Japanese Dumplings). She gulped as she read down the list of directions. It didn't look easy. A part of her remembered Kasumi's first attempt at making them when she was around eight. They had turned out horrible. "What was it she had said about them?" Akane pondered aloud. "Something about too much noise..."

She went to the living room quickly and smiled at Ranma. "Ran-chan, would you mind not being in the house until I'm done?" she asked sweetly.

Ranma looked up from his kata, confused. "What's up, Acchan?"

"Well... I want supper to be a surprise," she settled on her answer. "So..."

Ranma nodded and gave her a quick hug. "Good luck Acchan. Don't let things get over yer head," he suggested. Akane wasn't sure whether to be mad at his lack of faith or happy that he cared. She settled on giving him a kiss on the cheek and then pushing him out the door with such force that he fell on his face. Undaunted, he stood, brushed himself off, and looked back to her. "Just let me know when!"

Akane laughed and closed the door. Her laughter died quickly as she returned to the kitchen. It was not going to be easy. Carefully, and at a painstakingly slow rate, she measured each ingredient of the dough and mixed them together the best she could. Flattening the dough out, she then sliced it into small squares and lined them up neatly. Looking around, she saw that she didn't have one thing the book suggested: a crimper. She really didn't know what that was, but it wasn't needed until after the fillings were added anyway.

She found the pork and sliced it into a large bowl. She mixed in a few spices for seasoning, as the book suggested with just a pinch of each, and then added some diced cabbage. She then looked back to the book to double check things. Hers looked close to the illustration, though in the book the vegetables were much smaller and more even.

Shrugging, she moved the bowl over to the squares and started loading half of each with a spoonful of filling mix. Once she ran out, she folded each in half as directed, and then reached the stage for the crimper. Reading carefully, she found that she could use a chopstick instead, and just roll it along the edge. Smiling at her ingenuity, she carefully rolled each edge and placed the finished creations on a pan to bake.

So what if they didn't look perfect? Overall, they didn't look too bad... No filling was popping out, anyway, so she was satisfied. Putting them in the oven, she turned it on to the right temperature and returned to the book. Rice? Pastries? Noodles of some kind?

She frowned. Should she make some noodles, too, just in case nothing else turned out? Ranma's words came back to her suddenly, from before their sparring match which sent them on their first and only real date. "With an attitude like that, you've already lost." She put the noodles away instantly. If things didn't work out, though, would Ranma be upset?

She shook her head. It was food she was dealing with. Of course he'd be upset. Akane found herself torn between making the noodles or not, but was forced to stop when the rice started to boil over. Making a deft grab at the lid, the water settled down again, and she stirred the rice, hoping it hadn't burned. It had always burned when she made it before. But the book said to leave it once it boiled. Turn the heat way down, and leave it.

_Turn the heat down..._ Akane smiled to herself. She really should have been able to come up with that. Shrugging, she did as instructed and sat down to wait. She knew the gyoza would not rise properly if there was too much noise in the house. Looking over her shoulder, she looked out the window. Ranma was in the street, punching a log that had string tied around it at the right height. He was just outside the Dojo. She remembered that he used to do the same thing at home when he had built up energy and couldn't do anything about it.

"Wonder what's he's so worked up about..." Akane wondered out loud. The hissing behind her brought her attention back to the cooking. After a while, she decided to add a third dish to the meal.

When Akane called to Ranma, he was started to get tired. He had been going for a couple of hours, and was quite hungry, too. He knew he had an audience for most of the time. He could hear the people asking how he could do it like that. They assumed that the punches would have hurt. He grinned to himself as he jogged back to the house. They would have hurt normal people. He left the log set up, in case anyone else decided that they were going to try.

Akane opened the door for him, and he found the lights in the living room were turned off. There was a flickering of lights in the dinning room, and when he entered, he found that there were two places set, and a few candles set up in the room. "Impressive, Acchan," he said, catching her as she started to go into the kitchen and giving her a hug.

"Just don't wreck things, alright?" she said with a grin as she escaped his embrace and entered the kitchen. Ranma scratched the back of his head. What did she mean by that?

He sat down and waited for her. It wasn't long before she came back with two large trays of gyoza and a bowl of rice. She then left and returned with another bowl. When she set it down, he looked at all the food. It looked good... surprisingly good considering it was Akane who had cooked it all. The gyoza were a little rough around the edges, but no harm there. And the last bowl was filled with oden (Japanese hot dish - not quite soup, but close enough). There was a dish of karashi (really hot mustard) on the table as well to go with the oden.

Ranma knew that it must not have been easy to cook everything. "Looks good, Acchan," he whispered to her as he surveyed the scene before him. It took all his self-control not to start grabbing at the food right away.

"What's wrong, Ran-chan?" Akane asked after a moment of silence. "Why aren't you eating it yet?" She looked away. How could he not even try her food...

"I was waiting for you, Acchan," he said softly. "Thought I'd let you take some first."

Akane looked back to Ranma, startled. Table manners? Had he actually heard what she said earlier? "Thanks... Ran-chan," she managed as she served herself. She then picked up his plate and served him significantly more of the gyoza than she took herself. She also gave him more rice in his bowl than she took for herself. She knew he would eat more, anyway. She then poured the oden into two separate bowls and gave one to him while keeping one for herself. "Dig in," she suggested.

Ranma looked at the food in front of him, not sure where to begin. Finally, he settled on the rice, knowing that that would be simple. He'd save the dumplings for the end. They did smell pretty good... He picked up his bowl of rice and started shovelling it into his mouth. He stopped after a moment, seeing how delicately Akane was eating hers, and seeing that she was eyeing him disapprovingly. He swallowed what he had in his mouth and started taking smaller bits at a time. Akane blinked in surprise.

"You feeling alright, Ran-chan?" she asked. When he looked to her questioningly, she smiled. "I've just never seen you eat so slowly before. It's not the food, is it?" she demanded suddenly.

"N... no, Acchan," he stammered, swallowing his rice quickly and setting the now empty bowl down. "I was... trying to take your advice. Sorry." He bowed his head and waited for her to hit him.

"Ran... chan?" she called to him, making him look up to her. There were tears in her eyes. "You really do care, don't you?" she asked, her voice unsteady.

"Of course, tomboy," he said with a smile to take the sting out. "That's what I've been tryin ta tell ya for some time now," he explained, waving his hand as he picked up his chopsticks again.

"Baka," she said, swatting his hand. But she was smiling. "Thanks," she added softly, turning back to her food.

Ranma picked up his bowl of oden and took a helping of the karashi to put on the edge of the bowl. Each piece of food he took out, he wiped on the karashi. When all the food was gone, he wiped the remaining karashi off the edge with his chopstick and stuck it in his mouth. He always enjoyed the hot spices. Setting his sticks down, he downed the remains of the soup in one gulp.

"How is it?" Akane asked him as he started to pick up a pastry with his chopsticks. He set down the sticks and looked to her.

"I hadn't really thought about it..." he admitted. When he saw her crestfallen look, he continued quickly. "That's good, though, isn't it? Usually your cooking is almost toxic. This stuff doesn't taste different from when Kasumi makes it," he added in a rushed voice.

"Re... really?" she managed. "That good?"

Ranma nodded. "The best you've done so far, I think. Haven't tried the gyoza yet, though," he said, picking up his chopsticks again. After trying a few times to pick one up without crushing it, Akane giggled, making him look up. "What?"

"You've never done dumplings with sticks before, have you?" she asked.

"No."

"Neither have I," she admitted. "I usually just pick them up."

"Good enough for me," Ranma said, tossing his sticks to the side again and picking up a gyoza. It smelled quite good. Taking a bite into it, half of the filling spurted out the other end. Trying desperately to catch it before it dropped, he used both hands to stuff it into his mouth. After chewing and swallowing, he looked apologetically to Akane. "Sorry," he muttered through a half full mouth.

Akane just laughed.

After supper, the two returned to the Dojo, where various pairs were training. The two of them took places at the far end of the hall, and Ranma went over air combat with her again. To end things, they did several katas together. The eyes of all the students and masters in the Dojo were on them by the time they had finished the last kata. It was one they had developed together, and was a partnered kata. When done properly, as they had just done, it seems that they were really just one person with four arms, four legs, and two heads. They were working seamlessly together.

When they returned home, they were both too tired to do much. Akane changed and was in the bedroom before Ranma, and when he joined her, he had already changed into Ranma-chan. She laid down next to Akane, and when Akane wrapped her arms around Ranma-chan, they were both asleep before they knew anything else.

* * *

The One above All: Thanks.

Neon-Ronin: It's working on it… albeit a touch slower than I had meant. There's no real reason it's taking so long thus far – it's a couple of chapters before the large changes have to happen. Oh well. I hope you had a good new year too – and I hope you got my reply to your email asking about the Japanese suffixes. I'll be taking tie (probably tonight… maybe tomorrow night) to catch up on my reviews of your piece. It's good, I just haven't had as much time to reply as I would have liked. Sorry about that.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world…  
**The Shadows**


	9. Shadousama

Author's Note: This chapter is rated R at best, and so little has been changed. There is some mild petting involved, so consider yourselves warned if that is not your thing.

* * *

Chapter Nine: Lord of Shadows

Shadou-sama means 'Lord Shadow.'

* * *

After three days of a relative routine, it started to rain in the valley. Hard rain, too. It didn't look like it would be letting up any time soon. Ranma spent most of his time in the Dojo because of it, since once he was there, he could change and keep training. He always returned at night, and Akane spent most of the day with him in the Dojo, but she still was a little hurt that he was there more than he was with her at home. 

The third night of rain, Akane stopped Ranma-chan as she stepped in the doorway. "It has been too long since I've had a good massage, Ran-chan," she demanded, handing her the bottle of cream as she walked in. "I think I deserve one today, too," she said. She had won the morning practice fight - though, she did admit that, since they were stuck inside, most of Ranma's best moves were useless.

Ranma-chan laughed and ushered her into the living room and onto the couch. Akane sat down, but then stood up. "I think it would be better in the bedroom, Ran-chan," she suggested. Before Ranma-chan could object, Akane was already in the bedroom getting ready.

When Akane called to her, Ranma-chan stepped through the doorway to find her sprawled out on the bed, face down. She was wearing a pair of shorts, and that was it. Her ring was on her finger again. Ranma-chan shook her head. She wished she had any idea where Akane kept it most of the time, but she didn't want to ask. She understood why she didn't always wear it. Couldn't get used to it.

As Ranma-chan sat on top of Akane and started to rub in the cream and start the gentle massage, Akane started to moan almost at once. "You really needed this, didn't you?" she asked the relaxing girl.

Akane nodded. "Hey Ran-chan?" she called after a few minutes. Ranma-chan stopped the massage halfway down the back and looked up to listen. "Any idea how long we've been stuck here?" she asked. Ranma-chan shook her head. She had thought about it, but really didn't know how long she had been out of it. Akane sighed. "Neither do I. At least a week, though. Our families are going to start getting worried soon," she sighed again.

Ranma-chan shook her head. "I doubt it. Knowing them, they'll probably be celebrating the union of the two houses any day now. Assume that, since we're late, we must be... ah... otherwise occupied." She grinned. Akane smiled too, but didn't say anything.

She had been getting more and more tempted to do just that every day. She was very happy that Ranma was sleeping with her as a girl, or she was sure they might have done something. Although the massage felt really good, what Akane really wanted suddenly was to be tickled again. She grinned as Ranma-chan started in on her back again. Tickled. More like groped, or felt up, or... she stopped. All those terms sounded like it was unwelcome. Caressed. That was more like it. It wasn't really tickling, but caressing. And she really wanted to be caressed suddenly. Even if it was by a female Ranma.

She sighed deeply as Ranma-chan started in on her legs. She really hadn't realized how sore she had gotten, and was starting to wonder how she had ever done without getting daily massages like this... She shrieked as Ranma- chan ran a finger along the bottom of her feet.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself," Ranma-chan said with a grin. "Just had to do that."

"Anything else you'd want to do?" Akane asked suddenly. Ranma-chan looked away. "What's wrong?" she asked the smaller girl.

"Don't want to impose or nuthin," she said quietly.

Akane's mind was racing. Did Ranma-chan want to do something... naughty, or not? She really couldn't tell. "Would you mind..." Akane started, and smiled at Ranma-chan. "Tickling me again?" she asked.

Ranma-chan's eyes opened wide as Akane rolled over slowly, and she just sort of... stared at her. "You sure?" Ranma-chan asked, leaning forward so she could straddle the half naked girl beneath her. Akane nodded, holding her breath. Maybe Ranma was still turned on by her body, even if his own female body was better built. The raw emotions that were displayed on Ranma-chan's face said just that. She could practically feel Ranma-chan's fingers on her already.

Ranma-chan leaned forward and ran her fingers over Akane's exposed nipples. Akane moaned her delight, and thrust her chest forward as Ranma-chan continued. She swirled her fingers all around Akane's nipples, and then cupped both breasts in her small hands. "Ohhh," Akane sighed loudly.

Ranma-chan continued for a few minutes, eliciting more moans from Akane, and then pulled back. Akane opened her eyes to ask what was going on, but Ranma-chan was sitting close to her feet, looking away from her. "Sorry, Acchan," she whispered.

"What's the matter?" Akane asked, sitting forward until she was sitting next to the red-haired pigtailed girl.

"I shouldn't be doing that as a girl," Ranma whispered. "I shouldn't."

"Ran-chan," Akane said forcefully, making Ranma-chan look to her. "I was the one who invited you to do it in the first place, remember?" she asked.

"Yeah... but," Ranma-chan started, but was cut off by Akane.

"Ranma," Akane said firmly. "I told you I love you, didn't I? No matter what. Curse or no. I love all of you." She then faltered. "And... uh... I'll prove it to you later..." Ranma-chan could only stare at Akane. "You know... once we're married and all," she added at the continued silence.

Ranma-chan wrapped her arms around Akane and held her close. There were tears in the shorter girl's eyes. "I love you too, Akane," she said after a while. She then pulled away. "It's gettin late. Let's bed down, and sleep in a bit in the morning. I'm beat after today. I think Tzusu might have seen me earlier as a girl..."

"He probably thinks he imagined it, that's all," Akane said with a grin as she grabbed her pajamas and pulled them on. Ranma-chan had on her boxer shorts and white tank top, and she was happy sleeping in that. The two laid down and closed their eyes to sleep.

* * *

The next morning as the two sat across from each other to work on ki energy again, Ranma stopped her before she could start. "Have you wondered yet why no one flings these bits of ki energy at enemies?" he asked her.

Akane looked at him in shock as she realized just what he meant. The simplicity of the attacks... the ease of summoning... the power behind them... she stopped. "Not much power behind them?" she asked.

"Oh, there is power there," Ranma corrected her. "But not enough power to injure something living," he explained. "Or a large, non living thing - like a boulder, or a stream of water..."

"Then why are you bothering to teach me all this stuff?" she demanded, standing quickly and looking down at him. Ranma just sat there until she sat down again. She was starting to realize that every time she was angry during training, he would just sit and not move an inch. She had to realize how dangerous being angry could be in a match.

"Because if you can't control the little stuff, how can you expect to control dangerous attacks and shields?" he asked her calmly. "Think about it. If I couldn't control my Hiryu Shoten Ha, then what would happen every time I use it?"

Akane could picture the carnage easily. Injured friend alongside injured foes. Or worse still, injured friends while foes were left unharmed. She gulped.

"See the point?" he asked.

"So when can I learn some actual attacks that can be used?" she asked.

"First, now that ya've a pretty good control over your energy, ya've gotta make a ki shield. This is very important if you want to avoid being hit by another ki attack. They can not stop a full blast, but they are enough to weaken the blow enough so ya can keep goin," he explained. He suddenly stood up. "Let's see your battle aura," he instructed.

She stood and did as she was asked. They had practicing summoning her aura a few times recently, although she didn't know why. When she could feel the cool blue surrounding her, she decided to change it to a dark red. She felt that it seemed a bit more imposing, and if it was a battle aura, then it might as well be imposing. "What now?" she asked.

"Spread the aura around you," he told her.

She looked at him. "That's what I'm doing," she said after a minute.

"No, the aura is coming from you right now," he pointed out. "I want it to be around you instead. See the difference?" he asked, summoning his own aura to demonstrate. The warm red oozed from his form, and then she could clearly see that he was inside the aura, and it was no longer coming from him.

She nodded, and did likewise. As soon as she had separated it from herself, she wondered just how she had done it. The aura faded instantly.

"What did I tell you about thinking too much?" Ranma asked with a grin.

Akane swatted at his hand and summoned her aura again. This time, when she pushed the aura away from her, it encircled her, and stayed there. It took a bit of effort to get it to stay, but it did. "How's this?" she asked him.

Ranma nodded. "Excellent." When she released the shield, Ranma motioned to the door. It had stopped raining outside. "Want to practice aura summoning at the house?" he asked. Neither of them really called it home, for it wasn't. It was sort of like a hotel for them.

"Why? Why not do it here?" she asked.

"You know my theory on the kisses..." He trailed off. She waited for him to continue patiently, though she thought she could see what he was suggesting. "If our auras are surrounding us both, not shielding, but coming from us, then they mix. If we..." he trailed off.

"I get to kiss you for training?" Akane asked, her smile broadening. That sounded like a good idea. As they started towards the exit to the Dojo, she stopped him. "However, if you ever think of training anyone else like this..."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Acchan," he said quickly.

Before she could reply, they both noticed the sky darkening again, as though there were more rain clouds overhead. They ran to the exit to try and beat the rain home, but when they got outside, they saw that there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was just very dark out suddenly.

"So, wielder of the purple insignia," a deep voice said from behind the pair. Whirling around, they could see no one standing there, though the voice continued. "Girl. What's your name... Akane," the voice said slowly. "Yes, I think I'll like making you a part of me."

"Over my dead body!" Ranma said, standing forward. Akane elbowed him to the side so she could stand next to him. She looked quite upset by his comment. "Sorry. Over our dead bodies..." he amended, making Akane smile again.

A quiet laughter erupted from the place of the voice, and a figure appeared suddenly. The man was tall... much taller than Ranma. The two doubted that two Ranma's standing on top of each other would be as tall. He wore a long black cloak which covered most of his body. Both saw the hilt to the katana at his side.

"You dare to stand before the Lord of Shadows?"

* * *

**The Shadows** are watching… always… 


	10. Hakkou Nermia

Author's Note: Again, this chapter contains some mild petting. It has been toned down, and is once more rated R at best. If such a thing does not fancy you, then please feel free to skip it – it is not too much, but I am aware that some people would rather not see even that much.

* * *

Chapter Ten: Departing the Lost Village

Hakkou Nermia means 'Departure to Nermia.'

* * *

With a loud clap of thunder, the Lord of the Shadows leapt towards Akane, intending on ending it quickly. He knew of her energy, and wanted it desperately. Phoenix powers meant a possibility for healing powers... 

Ranma countered his airborne attack with one of his own, forcing the Lord to land elsewhere. Akane was ready for his landing, and pulled out her ki mallet. "Take me? For what?" she demanded, hammering the Lord into the ground.

With another clap of thunder, the Lord vanished, only to reappear where he had started. "You really think ki will do you any good here?" he demanded. "Eat this, boy!" he cried, funnelling an attack through both hands towards Ranma.

Ranma held up his hands to block, but was knocked into the Dojo wall by a torrent of water. Standing quickly, she shook her hair out of her eyes. "Why does it always have to be water?" she demanded, jumping to kick the Lord to the ground.

The Lord countered with a kick of his own, and the Lord's legs were longer than Ranma-chan's. A lot longer. Ranma-chan fell to the ground, and looked to Akane as she cried out in fury. The taller girl struck hard in the chest of the Lord, sending him toppling backwards, taking out a small home behind him.

The villagers were all out by now, trying to figure out what was going on. When they saw the Lord of Shadows, they hid the best they could, and prayed that Ranko and Akane would be able to stop him. They all knew that if Ranma showed up as well, then they would be free of his influence.

The Lord stood quickly and swung outwards with his hand. Although no one could see anything, both Ranma-chan and Akane were sent flying backwards by the attack. The Lord gave chase to the two wounded martial artists, and was stopped by Ranma-chan standing in front of an injured Akane. She had caught her left leg on the steps leading up to the healing building. The ankle was twisted in a horrible position, and at best it was a bad sprain.

"You will not hurt her again, Shadow Lord," Ranma-chan snarled. She heard Akane pulling herself up the steps and heard the door shut behind her. "It's just you and me, now. Care to shed your pathetic disguise, or are you really that much of a coward?" she taunted.

The Lord laughed. "You think to stand before me alone, girl?" He voice was dark and booming. "Very well. In the face of such courage, I will reveal myself to you!" With that, the black cloak was thrown from his shoulders, revealing a man who was the spitting image of Tzusu, only much larger. It also revealed that he had drawn his katana.

"Tzusu?" Ranma-chan asked, stepping back.

"I am sometimes," the Lord replied. "When I am in a weaker state, that fool takes over. But in my full strength, given to me by that fool girl when she used that purple stone, I am in control!"

"Damn," Ranma-chan muttered. No freezing the enemy into oblivion here. She hated thinking that she had to kill the enemy to escape. She had killed once before, and never wanted to have to do it again. "You will not be another Saffron," she said loudly enough for Tzusu to hear her, but not loud enough for her voice to carry. "I will stop you, and you will not harm Akane!"

"And you think you are enough to stop me?" Tzusu laughed. "You should have fled when you got the chance, Ranko!" With a broad sweep, the katana cleaved the roof off several of the surrounding houses, but missed Ranma-chan entirely.

_Did he really not notice that I was a guy when this battle started?_ "Fool!" she cried, darting forward before Tzusu could recover from his own attack. "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire Revised Air Attack!" Ranma-chan bellowed as she leapt into the air to strike at Tzusu's stomach region.

When she fell back, Tzusu was looking down at his stomach. "Was that supposed to hurt?" he laughed.

Damn! In my girl form, I don't have the strength to hurt him!

"Time to finish you off, girl!" the Lord of the Shadows laughed, lifting a hand towards the redhead. Ranma-chan leapt backwards, not sure what type of attack was coming, and screamed as a flurry of flames shot from the large being's hand and washed over her.

_Focus, Ranma, focus..._ she thought to herself, searching deep within herself. She crossed her arms as calmly as she could and thought, painfully, of the last time flames had washed over her. She shivered in the red-hot blast suddenly as a large ice wall formed before her, freeing her from their confines of heat and terror.

She fell to the ground panting, ignoring the pain the best she could. Even as she thought about the heat, though, she felt more ice seeping from her, sealing her burns, and mending her broken, burned body. Placing both hands on her stomach once she could move again, she tried to force the feeling down.

_The ice won't stop..._ she thought desperately to herself as the ground started to freeze around her, and her breath started forming icicles in the air in front of her. _It... won't..._

On pure instinct she flipped backwards, landing hard on the ground again, just managing to avoid the massive katana from cleaving her in two. She stood after a moment, and flexed her smaller muscles experimentally. The shock must have sealed it again.

"It will take more'n fire ta finish me!" she said defiantly, hoping that he wouldn't try such an attack again. She doubted seriously if she would be able to stop the ice the next time.

The next swing of the katana she leapt over, and found herself standing by the dojo doors. She looked up in surprise to find one of the students standing there, trembling. "Get outta here!" she shouted, motioning for him to run.

The student shook his head and held out his hands. Ranma-chan was surprised to find that he was holding two katanas out to him. Frowning, she took one of the weapons in either hand and turned back to face Tzusu the enchanted.

"I hate usin weapons..." she muttered to herself as she held them in a defensive position. "Fine, my ki won't hurt ya, huh? Then try the bite a steel!" she shouted, rushing forward. She leapt over the katana again, and rolled to the side of a blast of ice that came her way. Once on her feet again, she turned back to him. "Just how are ya doin all that?" she demanded, breathing more heavily than she wanted to admit.

"When you possess the ki of a hundred people, you find that you can do almost anything!" Tzusu laughed, pointing his katana at Ranma-chan. "And to prove it, I will now cut you down, Ranko!"

Ranma-chan brought both her blades around to parry the incoming attack, but found one of them wrenched from her grip, and then she flew through the air to crash against the dojo wall hard. She dropped the other blade as she fell to the ground.

_I need my male strength..._ she thought to herself in vain. _I can't fail Akane... not now. She's hurt, and dependin on me._ She stood slowly and deliberately, and faced Tzusu weaponless again. "I ain't lettin her down!"

"Ranma!" Akane cried from the doors of the healing building that she had ducked into. Chancing a glance over, Ranma-chan saw that Akane had a kettle of hot water in both hands. Akane threw the first one, and Ranma-chan dove to catch it.

Crash!

Tzusu had seen the dive before it had happened and struck Ranma-chan while she was in the air, knocking her into the ground. She peeled herself up as fast as she could, leaping out of the crater the impact had caused. As she landed again, Tzusu's foot caught her in the middle and sent her flying backwards to crash into the base of the mountain.

Tzusu chased after the fallen Ranma-chan, and lifted his sword to end it quickly. Before he could stop, though, Ranma-chan had gotten to her feet and dashed forward. "Yakitori Gatame!" she cried, flipping forward to land on one hand as she kicked as his waist. As her feet connected, Tzusu flew backwards into the air, landing with a crash in the middle of the village again.

Tzusu stood just as Ranma-chan arrived to kick him again, though this time it was in the chest. This kick wasn't as effective, though it did knock the Lord of Shadows backwards. Ranma-chan chanced a look to Akane, and saw that she had wrapped bandages around her ankle so she could still move, and she was running towards her with the kettle in her hand.

"You fight well, Ranko," Tzusu said, standing tall and causing Ranma-chan to look back to him quickly. "But do you know why they call me the Lord of Shadows?" He spread both his arms wide, and all light was gone suddenly. Ranma-chan fell forward face first as something forced its way into her mind.

She heard screaming children near by. Picking herself up, Ranma-chan could see a few kids climbing over the furniture, and she heard herself tell them to stop misbehaving. They had to ship up soon, or they wouldn't be accepted at the Dojo.

She turned and bowed to her husband as he entered the room. Tatewaki Kuno held her in his arms, and looked to the kids. "You still haven't brought them under control, Pigtailed goddess?" he asked.

Ranma-chan decked Kuno in the jaw, causing him to topple backwards out cold. Something wasn't right... what was it? The kids were fine – they were usually a handful. What was missing? She looked around carefully, and spotted a picture that was overturned on the bookshelf. Climbing up, she turned it upright and found herself staring at Akane.

Only she was not looking at a picture. She was in a black area, and she could only see Akane. She called out, but to no avail. "What's going on?" she demanded. Suddenly, she could hear other voices.

"Akane, you have to move on. He's gone. And he's not coming back this time!" The voice belonged to Nabiki. "I've had all of my people looking for him, and not one lead. There is no way he could have survived. I'm... sorry."

"No, Nabiki!" Akane shouted at her sister. "No! Don't tell me to give up hope! I've waited for ten years to see Ranma again. I'll wait another ten if it means I will see him! I am not giving up on Ranma!"

Ranma-chan buckled and fell to her knees. Ranma was dead? "How did he die?" she asked out loud. Even as she asked, something didn't seem right about that statement.

Akane kept talking. "He said he was going for a cure, even though I told him I didn't care. I loved him the way he was. But that baka had to go and..." she stopped and sniffled back a sob. "He'll be back. And he'll be good old Ranma again..." she sighed, and looked outside through the open window. "Come home soon, Ranma..."

"No!" Ranma-chan cried, standing up again. She suddenly knew what was wrong. She was a girl. She was supposed to be a guy... "I didn't die! I was... what was I doing?" she asked, looking around. There was something in her pocket that caught her attention. When she pulled it out, she found herself looking at a small blue stone.

In her hand, the stone turned to a piece of ice that started to grow, wrapping her hand, and then her arm slowly. "No!" she said fiercely. "I ain't goin down to this! Not now... I'm in the middle a something important..." She didn't know what she was doing, but knew it couldn't wait. As the ice started to take her body as well, she had a vision of flames and Saffron all over again. _Again?_ "Tzusu!" she shouted.

Her world around her shattered, leaving just the darkness. She pulled herself to her knees, and heard laughter ahead of her. She stood slowly and flexed her muscles. Tzusu was going to pay for that...

Akane screamed as she fell into the water. She couldn't see anything, and the water wasn't helping anything. She splashed around, trying in vain to find one of the sides of the body of water she had fallen into. The shadows were surrounding her.

She tried to move in the water, but couldn't. Finally, she took a deep breath as she went under. Hopefully she could reach the bottom quickly so she could push her way out. It had worked once before... maybe it could save her again.

It had worked once before... something was wrong. She knew she couldn't swim. But she could see. Why couldn't she even see the water that surrounded her? It made no sense. Something had to give. The shadows were overpowering.

The shadows. This had happened before. She had been tricked by them on the mountain, and she went to save Ranma when he almost...

Akane screamed as loud as she could. The water wasn't real. None of it was. As she kicked the rocks at the bottom of the pool of water, her ankle throbbed in pain. She was supposed to be fighting Tzusu, Lord of Shadows! She was supposed to be helping her fiancée fight! They were a team! An unbeatable team!

As she latched onto the thought, she world shattered, and she found herself standing in a very dark place. She could hear Ranma-chan's heavy breathing in front of her, and could sense the powerful enemy they were fighting.

She ran forward quickly, and sensed Ranma-chan turn to her. Quickly, she dumped the hot water over Ranma-chan, and together, the two faced Tzusu again. "Akane," Ranma said softly. "Can you fight with your ankle like that?" he asked.

"Of course. I'm not about to let you have all the fun here!" she exclaimed.

"Good. Ya know the last part of our kata?" he asked.

"Yeah." She blushed at the fact that he called it their kata, but he couldn't tell. Besides, it wasn't the time or the place to get caught up in such affairs.

"Hand motion is important with ki attacks," he explained quickly. "You've seen the Shishi Houkou Dan a few times now, and have seen the hands. You've seen my Moko Takabisha in response, with the same hand movement."

"Yeah," she said quickly. "What about it?"

"The end of our kata is the reversal of that hand movement. Focus on your ki and do the motion. Together," he urged. "Konzen Seikon Kishuu."

"Konzen Seikon Kishuu?" she repeated uncertainly.

"Don't think, just do it," he insisted. "Now!"

Together, they raised their hands and put them in front of themselves, forming a triangle with their fingers. They were facing each other as they turned their hands to point at themselves. Hot and cool auras spread quickly as both called on their energy quickly. "Konzen Seikon Kishuu!" they cried. Akane almost faltered when she realized that, for once, it was Ranma's aura that was cold, and hers that was warm.

With a flash of light, the shadows vanished in an instant from around them. Not only did this allow them to see, but it allowed them to see Tzusu swinging downwards with his katana to strike them both. Ranma pushed Akane aside and dove to the side himself. He knew Akane's ankle wasn't up to pushing off the ground with any speed.

"Tzusu!" Ranma cried, leaping to his feet and jumping onto the flat of the katana. "This ends now!" With his speed at full, and his strength back to the way he was used to, he dashed the length of the katana and leapt off Tzusu's hand. When he was right before his face, he lashed out with his hands. "Haku Dato Shin Sho!" Akane couldn't even see his hands moving as he struck. The move was even faster than the Chestnuts technique, and quite a bit more powerful.

As Ranma fell to the ground, Akane punched the air in front of her as she gathered her ki together for an attack. Apparently the Lord's defenses were down if Ranma's ki attacks would work. She was surprised by the calm intensity that had gripped her, and looked forward at the swirling mass of energy that had formed in front of her. It was calling to her, and she couldn't ignore it. "Genko Fenikkusu!" she cried into the swirling winds left by Ranma's snake bite attack. Her own ki mixed with that of Ranma's attack, and funneled towards Tzusu. The Lord let out a mighty cry of pain as flaming wings shot forth and struck him fully in the chest, blowing him backwards. He landed hard on the ground and lay unmoving. It was only a matter of seconds before he returned to a normal size.

Akane hit the ground moments later. Ranma didn't care about Tzusu one way or the other. He knew the amount of energy Akane had just summoned. He had to admit that the move seemed extremely powerful, but too powerful for her to use like she just did. She didn't have the energy to do that! Ranma clasped one of her hands, and found it to be ice cold. As cold as the ice that had tried to take him. She opened her eyes and looked up to him.

"I did it!" she breathed. "The Phoenix Fist!"

"I saw, Acchan," he said quietly. "But you drained a lot of your energy to do it. I'll look after you now, don't worry," he whispered. "Tzusu is gone." He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up. He immediately felt his ki energy, more rampant that it had been since they arrived in the village in the first place. He took a deep breath and ran to the building they had originally been in. Kicking the door down, he leapt to one of the beds. He felt his own energy fading fast. The ki transfer would ensure that Akane regained her strength quickly, but it was draining him temporarily.

He landed on one of the beds and rolled so Akane was lying on top of him in her usual position. Ranma then closed his eyes. "Sleep well, Acchan," he whispered to her as she closed her eyes. "I've got you," he said.

It took a few days to sort out everything in the village. Tzusu was bound in tight ropes and kept under constant surveillance, and the teacher Honairu took over in his place. The first thing he did was put a new door in the clinic where Ranma and Akane lay. He also put two guards at the door to make sure the two were not disturbed. He could sense their ki working to heal them quickly. But he knew it would take time.

Not only that, but he could sense ki in the rest of the village as well. With the defeat of Tzusu, the binding on ki was shattered. Honairu knew that he would have to speak to Ranma before the two left about training people in the use of their ki.

It was several days before anyone saw Ranma or Akane again. Honairu had had food placed in the clinic so they could eat without being disturbed. He didn't know how long it would take for them to recover, but he would make sure that they could recover in peace. He had a lot of questions for them, too.

The quarter moon shone little light down upon the sleeping village.

Ranma came back from the sink after washing his face with the warm water. He felt dirty, still, and knew that he really needed a hot spring if nothing else. He sat down on the bed next to Akane and stroked her hair out of her eyes. Such a simple action, yet meaning so much. She awoke at his touch and smiled up to him.

"Feeling any better, Acchan?" he asked her in a whisper.

Akane groaned and tried to sit up. This time, Ranma held her down. She collapsed again, still exhausted by the efforts she had put forward to take down Tzusu. She closed her eyes and smiled. "We did it, though, Ran-chan."

Ranma nodded. "We did. But next time, I think we are going to have to tone down your attack," he explained. "It is dangerous to be drained of all ki too often in such a short span. First, the healing after Ryoga..." he trailed off, not wanting to say anything more about that. "And now this."

She smiled. "Well, master, you'll just have to teach me a thing or two, then, won't you?" she asked. Ranma nodded.

"Do you want me to explain a few things about attacking with ki now?" he asked. She opened her eyes to say that she was listening, and he went on. "There are very few attacks like the Hiryu Shoten Ha or your Genko Fenikkusu. They just take too much out of a person, and are too powerful to use in everyday combat." _There are others, too. Like my freezing ki..._ he shuddered. It did not bode well to dwell on the battle with Saffron. _And that ice wall... some are far to dangerous to ever be used..._ "Other attacks, like your mallet, or my Haku Dato Shin Sho are used more often, and take a lot less energy. But they take just as much control. Sometimes more."

"More?" she queried. That didn't make a lot of sense.

"Well, the Hiryu Shoten Ha, for example, just happens if I call on the energy when the enemy has funnelled their own ki into a white hot rage. Your Genko Fenikkusu works with a funnel too, I noticed. You used the funnel left by my snake bite to channel the attack," he explained. "As for stuff like the snake bite, it takes a lot more control because I am hitting hundreds of times in rapid succession, so fast that it looks like only one or two punches instead of hundreds. Also, you must strike the proper areas for it to be the most effective."

"I guess that makes sense."

"So, once you can get up and move about, I'll show you a bit, like the one handed kick, or maybe something else. We'll see," he added with a grin.

"I thought you said we would practice summoning auras first..." she pouted. "I was really looking forward to that training."

At that suggestion, Ranma leaned in and pressed his lips against hers lightly. She clamped her arms around him suddenly, and he found himself landing on top of her. The kiss that started out lightly quickly became more and more passionate. When he felt her tongue against his, he pulled back to look into her eyes. He could see the hunger there, and knew it mirrored his own.

"Not everything..." Akane whispered. "But I wouldn't object to a good tickling from you like you are now..." Ranma kissed her again, and when he pulled away, they were both gasping for breath.

Akane could feel his hands trembling as he pulled at the buttons of her blouse. After a moment she swatted his hands away and undid them herself. She left the shirt covering her, though, wanting him to do something about it instead.

Leaning down, Ranma pushed the blouse away from her soft skin with his hands as he kissed just below her neck, along her collar. His hands caught on the straps to her bra, and she lifted her shoulders so he could push the straps down. Moving his hands with the straps, he caught the cups of the bra and caressed her breasts through the fabric.

Akane moaned loudly and arched her back again, thrusting her breasts more firmly into his strong hands. He squeezed a little harder, causing her to cry out in ecstasy, and he lowered his head to her chest. Slowly, he pushed her bra aside and latched onto one of her nipples with his mouth. She cried out again as his tongue danced around the firm bud as his other hand was pressed against her bare breast.

After a few minutes, Ranma moved to the other breast, to lick and caress it with his mouth and tongue as well. His other hand started squeezing the wet nipple from her left breast, and pulling slightly at it. She arched up again in pleasure, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the feeling of Ranma against her.

She felt somehow empty when he pulled away from her breasts, but that feeling vanished as soon as he kissed her again. She caught him and pulled him down to her again, holding him in the kiss that he started, and she didn't intend to let finish for quite some time.

When they finally broke away from the kiss, Akane sighed her pleasure, and Ranma smiled. "How's that?" he asked her with a grin, flicking his fingers over her still hardened nipples lightly.

"Oh Ranma..." she whispered as her back arched involuntarily at his touch. "Oh... Ranma..." she whispered again, apparently at a loss for any other words. "I love you so much, Ranma."

Her words were tearing at him, and he felt his control wavering. He started paying careful attention to the breast he was licking, making sure she was whispering and moaning more and more.

Just as he was about to lose control and take her completely right then and there, he felt it and faltered, his hand catching him on the bed before he collapsed on top of her. The ice was building, all over again. He cursed to himself, knowing that he couldn't do anything else... even though he desperately wanted to, and he knew that she did, as well. She was willing, he could feel the heat emanating from her. But he felt his control slipping already. She moaned slightly as he pulled his lips away from sucking at her erect nipple, and with one last lick around it, he sat up a bit more.

He released her breasts after a moment of just caressing them with his hands, and pulled her bra back up to cover them again. He gave her a light kiss along her collar again, and then pulled the bra straps back up. She whimpered her protest, but he shook his head. "I love you too, Akane. That's why I'm stopping now... before either of us does something that they'd rather wait to do until... er..."

"The honeymoon," Akane supplied as he did the buttons to her blouse back up.

"Yeah," he said with a forced smile. He hated lying to her, especially at such an intimate moment, but how would she respond? He then pushed himself up a bit and looked down. _I need something else to concentrate on, to force the ice down again. Something that I can take complete control with..._ Akane blushed as she thought he was just staring at her figure, but the colour faded before he looked back to her. "How's the ankle doing?"

Akane frowned slightly. _I guess he wasn't really looking at me, was he? How can he just stop like that? I feel like I want him here and now, but he seems indifferent. Like he's just doing it to make me happy..._ She twisted her left ankle about. "A little sore, but not too bad," she said. _What's wrong, Ranma?_ She couldn't ask him, but she wanted to. Desperately. She had to know if he was as attracted to her as she was to him. And not just her mind, either, but her body too. She loved all of him... did he love all of her? She had felt his hand on her hip, and was praying as she moaned that he would move it in, and start using his skilled hands on another part of her...

Ranma stood and placed his hands around her ankle. "How's this?" he asked as he started to massage the bottom of her feet. Although she didn't want to admit it, it did feel pretty good. Akane just wanted him to be facing her... and paying attention to a different part of her anatomy. Several different parts. She sighed. It was probably for the best, though. She was willing to go all the way, but she knew that they shouldn't. She just hated to think that he had better control of his lust than she did. "What's wrong?" He must have heard the sigh.

"Nothing," she said quickly. "It just feels good, Ran-chan."

"It's suppos'ta," he said with a smile before turning back to her feet, focusing his entire being into the task at hand. After he finished with one, he turned to the other and did the same thing. "There. Now, it is late at night, and I think we should get some sleep," he explained, standing. Before she could stop him, he had dumped a glass of cold water over himself. "Shall we?" she asked Akane after drying herself off a bit.

Akane nodded. If she couldn't lie down with Ranma as a guy, at least she could have him as a girl. She wouldn't change that fact for anything. The moment she wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, she felt a lot more tired than she had been earlier. She could feel their kis mixing... still healing her of her loss of energy, she supposed. Closing her eyes, she felt Ranma-chan relax in her grip, and she, too, fell asleep.

When the sun came streaming in the window, both girls woke up feeling that they would have preferred more sleep. Ranma turned to face Akane slowly, not wanting her to let go just yet. "We were out of it for about five days, Acchan," she said softly.

"Five days?" she demanded.

"Yeah. Saw the moon last night. It's a full quarter now, when it was only just fading from a new moon when that battle happened. Feeling up to anything yet?" she asked.

"Of course, Ran-chan," she replied. Before either knew what was happening, they both leaned in to kiss the other. Almost as soon as it started, Ranma-chan pulled away.

"I'm sorry, Acchan," she said softly. "I just don't think its right for me to do that as a girl..." Akane sat up to face Ranma-chan, but the other girl had already gotten out of bed and was at the stove heating water. Akane didn't know what she should say. She knew it was wrong for her to be attracted to the girl, especially as much as she was...

_But it is Ranma I'm talking about here,_ she thought to herself. _It's not like I feel that way about any other girls... just Ranma-chan. Because I love Ranma, I love all of him... and her. But Ranma doesn't feel that's okay. Is he trying to protect me, or himself?_ She knew she would have to talk to someone about it soon. She found herself wishing that they could go home again.

"Hey, Akane!" Ranma's voice was suddenly very loud in her ear, and she looked up at him, startled. He grinned. "Good, you are still with me," he said. "Been calling to you for a bit now. What's on your mind?"

"N... nothing," Akane said quickly. "I'm feeling a lot better today, Ran-chan."

"Good. Then we can get out of here today with any luck," he replied, motioning to the door. The two saw food that was left for them, and they ate the breakfast quickly. Both were starving. Once they had finished, they pushed open the doors.

With a mighty crash, two bodies ended up at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the clinic. Ranma and Akane looked down in surprise to find two men who were armed, and quite dazed. "What's going on?" Akane asked out loud.

The men scrambled to their feet quickly and gave a small salute. They looked quite embarrassed. "Sorry, ma'am. Fell asleep, I guess," the first of the men tried to explain.

"Doing what?" Ranma asked in a monotone.

"Keeping people from going in to bother you two," the other guard replied briskly. "Elder's orders!" he said quickly when he saw that Ranma didn't appear to appreciate the gesture. "Elder Honairu."

"Ah," Ranma said, his expression lightening. "So you guys dumped Tzusu, I guess."

"Once we figured out what happened, then everything fell into place quickly. The new elder wishes to speak with you two, though."

Akane caught Ranma's hand as he bounded down the steps, and she followed after. Having his hand felt so right all of a sudden, when a few weeks ago, she would have beaten anyone who suggested it to her.

When the two drew close to the Dojo, for they somehow knew that the new elder would be there, the doors parted to reveal the old teacher. "So, you two are awake. That is good news indeed," he said, bowing to them.

"Don't do that," Ranma said harshly. Akane nodded her agreement.

"Sorry," Honairu said quickly, getting to his feet again. He then motioned to the Dojo. "We can talk inside," he suggested quietly as a crowd was starting to gather. They all hoped to hear the details as well.

"Sure," Akane said, and she pulled Ranma inside before he could object. Once inside, she turned to the elder. "What's on your mind, Honairu?"

"I was hoping you could tell me what was... uh... on your mind...' actually. I want to know what happened, and how. Some things just don't add up at all."

"Do they ever?" Ranma muttered. He knew Akane was better at handling these types of things, so he decided to stay relatively silent the best he could.

Akane glared at him, and then looked back to the elder. "Well, Tzusu attacked us, and we beat him. The hold of the shadows is broken from this village, and we were planning on leaving the valley and going home once we had packed our things," she explained.

Honairu nodded. "Well, I guess I should have expected that," he admitted. "Though the village will suffer without you two around. Saotome Ranma, you taught us well. And Tendo Akane, your presence seems to have breathed a new life into many of our girls. They plan on joining the Dojo thanks to you." He then stopped, and looked to Ranma after a moment. "I do have one question I would like answered, though, before you left. What exactly is your connection to Ranko?"

Ranma shrugged. "Not something easily explained, really."

"Well, I saw you start the fight, get wet, and Ranko suddenly appear. Then, after the darkness, you were back again. And I also noticed that Tendo Akane, while in the clinic to bind her injured ankle, retrieved two kettles of hot water. Why?"

"Could you stop that?" Akane suggested, trying to fight back her rage. The formal atmosphere really didn't agree with her at all. Honairu blinked and nodded after a moment.

"I am Ranko. And Ranma," Ranma said after some consideration. "Cold water turns me into a girl, while hot water turns me back," he explained with a sigh. "But I'd rather you didn't go spread that around. Ranko's image here seems to have inspired a few girls, too."

_Wow, Ranma is actually concerned with women's rights... guess being a girl has taught him a few things..._ Akane thought to herself.

"But... how?" Honairu asked.

"Does it really matter?" Ranma asked, looking away uncomfortably.

"I... I suppose not," Honairu replied after a moment of tense silence.

After another few minutes of silence, Ranma turned to Akane. "Well, shall we get going then?" he suggested to her. She nodded, and the to left the Dojo to return to their house. Once they had gathered their things, Akane looked to Ranma expectantly.

"Any idea which direction is home?" she asked when he didn't say anything.

"Yup," he replied. "Give me some credit, Acchan," he suggested. "I'm not Ryoga here."

"Good thing, too." The anger in her voice reminded Ranma of the debt they owed to the lost boy when they met him the next time.

"Akane?" he called to her. When she looked, he looked away from her. "Just don't kill him, alright?" he requested. At her startled look, he sighed. "It's my fault... his curse. I think he has suffered enough. I won't stop you from getting revenge for him sleeping in your bed, but I don't want you to kill him."

"We owe him for trying to kill you, too, though," Akane pointed out angrily.

"I know," he sighed. "Please, Acchan?"

It was Akane's turn to sigh. She really couldn't say no to Ranma. She knew she couldn't, even if she wanted to. This was proof. She wanted to wipe Ryoga off the face of the Earth, but at Ranma's request, she would only beat him to an inch of his life instead. Akane nodded slowly. Before another word could be said, Ranma smiled, and started heading to the east.

When they reached the edge of the forest, he looked to her. Without him even asking the question, she nodded. She was ready to continue with the training, even if her ankle was a little sore. She wasn't about to let something like that stop her. They were in the trees in an instant, bounding along in the direction of home.

* * *

Yakitori Gatame: Not a ki powered attack, but a powerful move of deception. The technique involves rushing the enemy, then flipping to your hands at the last moment to kick them hard with both feet.

Konzen Seikon Kishuu: Harmony Soul Attack. Technically, however, the move is not an attack at all, but a counter attack to a blanket of darkness. It can be used to break through illusions and bring light to the darkest shadow. Must be done with two people, though - Ranma and Akane used this in their fight against the Lord of Shadows (Tzuzu).

Haku Dato Shin Sho: Fist of the Snake Bite. A ki powered attack of Ranma's, taken from the Umisen/Yumisen ken family created by his father. The snake bite hits the enemy hundreds of times again and again in vital areas, and is meant to either diminish or completely immobilize the enemy.

Genko Fenikkusu: Phoenix Fist. Akane's power move equalling Ranma's Hiryu Shoten Ha, it is a move that funnels her burning ki into a mass of energy that slams into the enemy like a flaming bird.

* * *

The next chapters will have to wait a short time – I have to edit them down to an R rating (even though my understanding said that they already were… but I was wrong I guess.) Once they are toned down to such a level that I am positive they are safe for this site, they, too, will go up here. The full version – as before – is available through a link in my bio.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world, I will be watching from within…  
**The Shadows**


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